THE ENGLISH COWRY. 385 



brown and white ; but in other examples the large brown dashes are replaced by 

 delicate wavy pencillings, something like the back of pencilled pheasants. It is rather 

 remarkable that, as the Bat Volute increases in age and dimensions, it fills up the 

 hollow of the spine with solid shell, thus adding considerably to the weight of the 

 specimen. 



ON the left hand is shown an empty shell, called, from its peculiar markings, the 

 MUSICAL VOLUTE, the series of lines being supposed to represent the clefs, and the 

 spots doing duty for the notes. 



As in the preceding instance, this shell is most variable in the shape and color of 

 its markings, and even the number of lines differs considerably. In this specimen is 

 found the normal number of five lines and four spaces ; but in some examples there are 

 only four lines, while in others their number is increased to seven. The color of the 

 specimen which is figured in the illustration is a mixture of gray neutral tint and pale 

 brown, the lines being nearly black, and the interior of the shell a very pale drab. 



THE large, uniformly colored shell occupying the upper part of the engraving 

 represents the species called NEPTUNE'S BOAT, a rather pretty, though simple looking, 

 shell. 



But few species of the genus Cymba are known, nine or ten being their apparent 

 number ; and these creatures appear to be found mostly in Western Africa, though 

 Europe can boast of an example. The peculiar form of the animal can be seen from 

 the illustration, its oddly-shaped proboscis and recurved siphon giving it a very curious 

 aspect. The foot is, as may be seen, of very great size, and deposits a thin enamel on 

 the under side of the shell. When first born, the young animal is of very great size 

 when compared with its shell. The nucleus is large and globular, and in the youth of 

 the animal is sufficiently conspicuous, but as the inhabitant increases in age, and the 

 home increases in size, the nucleus becomes partly concealed by the growth of the shell, 

 the whorls of which form a flatfish ledge around it. 



Although not a very large shell, nor remarkable for the variety of its coloring, the 

 Neptune's Boat has yet a pleasing effect to the eye, and, when examined, is really an 

 elegant and delicate shell. Its walls are very thin in proportion to its dimensions, and 

 the bold, sweeping curves of the surface always call forth admiration. Its color is 

 uniform palish drab on the exterior, and the inside is beautiful pinky white, like that 

 of a blush rose. 



ON the right hand of the following illustration, and occupying the central portion, the 

 reader will perceive a curious-looking shell represented as crawling upwards, the animal 

 having a very broad and flat foot, and its shell almost covered with the striped mantle. 

 This is the Marginella, our last example of the Volutidae. 



About ninety species of MARGINELLA are known to zoologists, all belonging to the 

 tropical or warm seas. As may be seen by the engraving, the animal is very large 

 in proportion to the size of its home, and the mantle is so formed that the two lobes 

 almost meet over the back of the shell, nearly concealing it from view. The tentacles 

 are long, and the eyes are placed upon them near their base. The shell is smooth and 

 polished, and when adult the outer lip has its edge considerably thickened, thus gaining 

 the generic title of Marginella. 



The color of the shell is gray, streaked with black lines, and the animal itself is of a 

 pinkish hue, diversified by red rays. 



WE now come to the family of the Cowries or Cypraeidae, three representatives of 

 which family are seen in the same engraving. As in the last genus, the mantle is 

 expanded into two lobes, which nearly meet over the back of the shell ; but in many 

 species these lobes are covered with filame-its, like so many tentacles. The eyes are 

 either near the base or middle of the tentacles, and the tooth-ribbon is powerfully 

 armed. 



THE most familiar example of these shells is the common ENGLISH COWRY, which 

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