MOLLUSC A. 



ttOl 



OSTKEA AND SPONDYLUS, 



CARINARIA. 



VITREOUS CARINARIA. 



of Mr. Robert of Lyme Regis, England, is fond of home, or at least possesses a knowledge of 

 topography, and returns to the same roost after an excursion with each tide. Professor Forbes 

 has immortalized the sagacity of the razor-fish, who submits to be salted in his hole rather than 

 expose himself to be caught, after finding that the enemy is lying in wait for him. 



We have spoken of shell-fish as articles of food, but they have other uses, even to man ; they 

 are the toys of children, who hear in them the roaring of the sea ; they are the pride of collec- 

 tors, whose wealth is in a cone or wentle-trap ;* and they arc the ornaments of barbarous tribes. 

 The Friendly Islander wears the orange-cowry as a mark of chieftainship, and the New Zealander 

 polishes the elenchus into an ornament more brilliant than the pearl ear-drop of classical or 

 modern times. One of the most beautiful substances in nature is the shcIl-opal, formed of the 



* Formerly, the study of shells, called Coiicliolngy, was a very fashionable pursuit. At that period enormous 

 prices were paid for some particular shells. A Carinaria shell once brought live hundred dollars; it is now worth 

 twenty cents. In 1701 a wentle-trap sold for two hundred dollars; in 1703, for one hundred dollars; it may now be 

 had for one dollar. The prices of other shells have varied in a similar manner. Conchology, taking cognizance 

 Kiily of the shells, and not of the inhabitants that produced them and lived in them, was not a scientific study any 

 more than that of collecting old Chinaware. It is the substitution of scientific zoology for mere shell-fancying, 

 together with the frequency of rcinnie voyacres, which lias made shells more common, and has wrought such a 

 change in the value of tiiese ai tides. Many of them, however, are intrinsically beautiful, and will always be objects 

 of interest and value. 



