SHELLS. 351 



satisfying either ourselves or our readers. In the absence, 

 however, of fuller and more circumstantial information, we 

 must rest contented with the following brief details : — 



The shells of the warmer regions of the earth, as well as 

 the birds and insects, are generally distinguished from those 

 of colder countries by the greater beauty of their forms and 

 colouring ; and those of Africa, while they participate in 

 this splendid character, are yet more highly valued in con- 

 sequence of their comparatively rare occurrence in collec- 

 tions. The productions of the African seas are probably 

 less known than those of any other quarter of the globe. 



The Mediterranean affords very numerous species, al- 

 though the very slight changes of level which its waters 

 undergo render its testaceous productions less easily ob- 

 tained than in more northern latitudes, 



"Where the redundant seas wash up fresh stores." 



A few of the more remarkable animals of these classes 

 which occur in the Mediterranean are, — several kinds of 

 cuttle-fish, such as Sejpia officinalis^ Loligo vulgaris, and L. 

 sepiola ; Argonauta Argo, Janthina communis, Isocardium 

 glohosum, Cardita sulcata, and ajar ; Spo7idylus gaderopus, 

 Avicitla tarentina, Cardium costatum, Anatina globosa, Pholas 

 dactylxLs, and several Pinnce. The Tjrian purple of the 

 ancients is supposed to have been obtained from the Purpura 

 patula, common in this sea. The use of that splendid 

 and regal die is now superseded by the discovery of the 

 tinctorial uses of the cochineal, — a small and obscure insect, 

 which the skill of the chemist has rendered indispensable 

 even to the garments of kings. 



Egypt and the Valley of the Nile were first correctly ob- 

 served by the skilfiil Savigny and the other naturaUsts of the 

 great French expedition ; afterward by Olivier, and at a 

 still later period by Cailliaud. A few species mentioned by 

 Poiret, those described by Chemnitz, and the collection 

 made by the Danish naturaUst Grove from Morocco, 

 form the chief materials of our knowledge of this de- 

 partment along the Barbary coasts. The Red Sea, so 

 full of shoals and coral reefs, is said to be peculiarly rich in 

 shells ; but with the exception of the work of Forskall, and 

 the more recent travels of Lord Valentia, we can scarcely 



