GASTROPODS. 



371 



TEXTILE CONE, Conus textile (nat. size). 



near the middle. The siphon is long, and protruded through the notch at the 

 anterior or narrow end of the shell. They are not very active creatures, but crawl 

 about slowly in holes in the rocks, or fissures of coral-reefs, in depths ranging from 

 low-water mark to thirty or forty fathoms. The shells are generally strong and 

 solid, and as the animal grows and requires more room, it absorbs the early whorls, 

 leaving only a very thin partition between them ; but, in order to preserve the 

 proper weight of the shell, it thickens up the spire within. All the species are 

 formed on one plan, but the extremes vary considerably in form. This variation, 

 difference of sculpture, periostracum, and colour, constitute the characters upon 

 which the species are founded. 

 Some of the handsome and 

 rarer forms fetch very high 

 prices. Conus cedo - nulli, 

 which is found in the West 

 Indies, is, besides being rare, 

 remarkable for the variation 

 of its colour -markings. C. 

 cervus, C. adamsoni, C. thomce, 

 C. nobilis, and C. delesserti, 

 are some of the most highly 

 treasured, but the celebrated 

 C. gloria -maris, from the 

 Molucca and Philippine 



Islands, of which only about a dozen specimens are known, is still considered the 

 finest shell of all, and a full-grown specimen in good condition would probably now 

 realise about forty or fifty pounds. Some, such as C. betulinus and C. suratensis, 

 are extremely solid, but a few, C. geographus and C. tulipa, are very thin. It has 

 been asserted that certain species have no operculum, but this is now believed to 

 be incorrect. This structure is small, horny, narrow, and, being much smaller than 

 the aperture of the shell, in no way serves the purpose of defence. A large number 

 of fossil species have been described from the Tertiary formations. Some instances 

 are on record of persons having been bitten by cones when handling them, and it 

 is said that the bite, to some extent, is poisonous, but whether this character is 

 peculiar to a few, or common to all the species, we have no means of knowing. 



The auger-shells, Terebridcv, have a very different appearance to the cones, and 

 conchologically do not exhibit any particularly close relationship; although the 

 characters of the dentitiofi certainly indicate their approximation. The molluscs 

 of this family have a small head with two small cylindrical tentacles, with minute 

 eyes at the tips. The foot is small, rounded in front, and elongate behind, and 

 supports a small, oval, horny operculum, with an apical nucleus. About two 

 hundred and thirty species have been described. They abound in tropical regions, 

 but a few occur in more temperate localities, such as Japan, California, and New 

 Zealand. Some of the shells are so solid (Terebra maculata), and others so 

 extremely elongated (T. pretiosa, etc.), that it would appear impossible for the 

 animals to carry them erect. Probably, in these instances, the shells are dragged 

 along resting upon the surface of the sand. They are all elongate in form, with 



