37 o THE ROYAL MUPEX. 



of its congeners, on account of the long beak, which is thought to bear some resem- 

 blance to that of the woodcock, and the former in allusion to the vast number of length- 

 ened spines or thorns which are arranged regularly over its surface. It has also re- 

 ceived the equally appropriate and more poetical name of VENUS' COMB. 



This shell is found in the Indian Ocean, and varies greatly in dimensions, four or five 

 inches being about the average length. It is evident that as nothing is ever made in 

 vain, or to be wasted, the wonderful array of external spines must play some important 

 part in nature, if not in the economy of the particular species. But what that part may 

 be, and what may be the object of these beautiful structures, is a problem which seems 

 almost insoluble, at all events, with our present means of discovery. 



The color of the shell is very pale brown, each ridge being slightly tuberculated and 

 edged with white. The spines are uniform drab, or very pale brown, with an almost 

 horny translucence. 



ANOTHER species is given in the same illustration, in order to show the animal and 

 the position of the eyes, to which reference has already been made. This is the 

 BRITISH WOODCOCK or HEDGEHOG SHELL, a creature which, as its popular name im- 

 ports, js a native of our seas. It is very much smaller than the thorny woodcock, and 

 affords a good example of the contrast that can often be effected by different animals 

 which yet belong to the same genus. Its length is hardly more than an inch and a 

 half, and its color is a pale yellowish brown. 



IF the so-called tongue-ribbon be carefully removed from the owner, and mounted on 

 a glass slide for microscopic purposes, it can be examined with the attention it deserves, 

 and by its great beauty will be sure to repay the labors of the observer. This beautiful 

 structure contains a vast series of the teeth already mentioned ; and although the gen- 

 eral formation of these organs and their arrangement is alike in all the Muricidae, the 

 teeth themselves are varied in an almost incredible manner, and are so differently 

 shaped, that the particular species can be recognized by one who is conversant with 

 these structures, merely from a glance at the tooth-ribbon. By means of this curious 

 and complicated appartaus, the carnivorous animal is able to attack other molluscs with 

 unfailing certainty. 



In vain do they retire into the recesses of their shelly homes, for the rasp-like teeth 

 of their assailants soon bore a hole through the opposing walls, and enable the ma- 

 rauder to kill and devour the victim at its leisure. Perhaps it would be more correct to 

 transpose the two verbs, and say, devour and kill, for in the molluscs the life retains 

 its hold of the body with such tenacity, that the greater part of the substance may be 

 actually eaten by the slayer, while the remainder is still quivering with life, or even 

 endeavoring, with vain instinct, to crawl away from its foe. 



The reader has, doubtlessly, while wandering on the seashore, picked up many shells, 

 in which a round hole had been made, as perfectly circular as if cut with a drill. This 

 hole is an unfailing indication that the quondam owner of the shell has fallen a victim 

 to some mollusc such as we have just been describing, and whose task seems to be the 

 continual restoration of the balance of nature, which would be disturbed by the un- 

 limited increase of the vegetable-eating shells. 



ONE or two other species belonging to this genus require a passing notice. The WOOD- 

 COCK'S HEAD (Murex hausiellum), remarkable for its long peak and rounded shell, in- 

 habits the same localities as its more beautiful neighbor, being found in the Indian 

 and Chinese seas. It has but few of the spines which decorate the thorny woodcock 

 in such profusion, and even those which are seen upon the surface are comparatively 

 short. The rounded body of the shell, however, together with its long beaked process, 

 does really bear some resemblance to the head and bill of the bird from which it takes 

 its popular name. 



The ROYAL MUREX (Murex regius) is a very fine example of this genus, and is 

 valued, not only for its rarity, but for the extreme beauty of its form and coloring, which 

 render it an ornament to any cabinet. In color it resembles the thorny woodcock. 



