THE ANIMAL LIFE OE THE GROUP. 459 



The following', translated by Dr. N. B. Emerson, is a portion of ancient pule 

 repeated by the native doctor (kahuna) fishennaii as the baited hook was low- 

 ered to capture a squid to be used for curative purposes: 



' ' Here is the cowry, 



A red cowry to attract the wqiiid to his death. 



Here is the spear, a mere stick, 



A spear of lama wood for tlie squiii that lies flat. 



O Kanaloa of the tabu nights, 



Stand upright on the solid floor! 



Stand upon the floor where lies the squid! 



Stand up to take the squid of the deep sea! 



Else up, Kanaloa! 



Stir up! agitate! let the squid awake! 



Let the squid that lies fiat awake, the squid that lies spread out." 



Two large species related to the more familiar tiger cowry ''•' (the largest 

 of the family, and common in collections) have spots extended over the base. 

 The Arabian cowry 20 has the base tinged Avitli hrow-n. If the spots are 

 crow^ded and run together, the sides thick, and the base milky or bluish-white, 

 with a dark blotch near the middle of the shell, it is the closely-related species 

 Cypnea reticulata. All three species occur in the group, and, like most of the 

 larger forms, were used as food by the Hawaiians. A small form usually 

 about an inch in length, that is ashy-fulvous, without spots, and has the teetli 

 w^hite and the extremities satfron-red (that is usually collected in the group), 

 is Isabella's cowry. ^^ 



A curious species of coway, occurring (piite commonly in the islands. 

 belongs to the group in which the shell is covered with little nodules. It is a 

 wide-ranging form, known as the Madagascar cowry,-- and is a species in 

 which the ridges on the outer lip are alternately large and snuill. The list of 

 rare or occasional species coitld easily be extended into a snudl volume. 



Five minute white or pinkish species of the coffee-l)ean shell -'■'• have been 

 reported from Hawaii. As the largest of them are less thnn hall' an inch in 

 length, they are seldom seen by amateurs. They are all cowry-shaped, rather 

 roundish and curiously cross-ribbed shells that can at once l)e identified t)y 

 their resemblance to the larger members of the family. 



Egg Shells. 



The egg shells-'' are so seldom seen on our beaches that a desci'iption of 

 the species seems unnecessary, farther than to say that in geiiei'al ronn ihey 

 resemble the cowries, are whitish or didl in color and the extremities ai-e usual In- 

 drawn out to form two canals. They differ from the family mentioiu'd above 

 in having the inner or columella side of the aperature smootli. The shells 

 occur throughout Polynesia, where in many of the islatids they ;ire much 

 prized as personal ornaments. 



Tun SttkT;T,s. 

 The tun shells,-'^ or wnne .iai's. as the n;iiiie Liiven to the family siLnn'hes.-" 



'" Ci/prirn ti(/ri.i. -•> Gyprcea arahicu. "^ Cyprwa isabclhi. "- Cuprcvu nmdaijasrariensi.i. 

 "^ Trivia. "•• Orulidrv. °° Doiiiihr. -" An allusion to their cjipiu-ious size. 



