68 NATURAL HISTORY. 



lusk shines or glances in the sea like glass, and is valued 

 more or less as the blue tint predominates ; for the most 

 part it Ties buried in the sand, coming forth only at night 

 at the times of the new or full moon, -when it attaches 

 itself to the rocks. They are killed by putting them in 

 hot -water, and then, as the remains of the creature can 

 not be removed from the shell -without injury to the lat- 

 ter, it is laid in the shade near to an ant hill, so that the 

 busy little emmets, which will be sure to enter it, may 

 feed upon the carcass. If placed in fresh water, the 

 colors fade while the decayed mollusk remains within 

 the shell, but when desired in great brilliancy, the hue 

 can be restored by laying it occasionally in salt water 

 and drying it in the sun. The porcelain snail is poison- 

 ous. There are others of this genus which are distin- 

 guished by having the aperture notched on one side 

 only. The most remarkable of this sub-family is 



The Hen's Egg (bulla ovum), three inches long, two 

 in thickness, smooth, and milk-white ; the snail which 

 occupies this shell is black as pitch and poisonous. There 

 are several races of the Cyprea Porcellana, some of the 

 smallest of which are used by the uncivilized East In- 

 dians as coin (cowries). 



The Harps (buccinum harpa) are over three feet in 

 length, two in breadth, oval above, and have sharp broad 

 ribs, which project and somewhat resemble the strings of 

 a harp ; the color is white, dappled with red. and glances 

 Avith a beautiful luster. The ribs are flesh colored, and 

 marked between with brown and white squares, somewhat 

 like panes of glass in church windows. The flesh of the 

 enclosed snail is hard and gristle-like, and in front is a 

 fleshy appendage, which can not be drawn into the shell. 

 The creature has the power of detaching itself from this 



