398 THE VIOLET SNAIL. 



articles, and also for inlaying in the darker woods. Very beautiful sleeve-links are cut 

 out of the muscular impression, its heavy material giving the requisite strength, while 

 its peculiarly corrugated structure produces a very beautiful effect, either when ground 

 and polished or suffered to retain its ordinary contour. 



As may be seen by the illustration, the foot is large and rounded, and when the 

 animal is crawling upon the rocks, can be formed into a sucker that enables the creature 

 to adhere to the stones almost as firmly as the limpet. 



THE smaller perforated empty shell is the GUERNSEY EAR-SHELL, popularly known 

 throughout the Channel Islands by the. name of ORMER. 



This shell does not attain to so great a size as the preceding, but is, if possible, even 

 more beautiful when polished and the opaque outer coat removed by means of acids 

 and hard labor. The growth of each successive year is marked by a bold ridge, sweep- 

 ing in a curve from the spine to the edge, and rapidly enlarging towards the margin. 

 These ridges are caused by a regular series of furrows, in reality very shallow, but, on 

 account of the peculiar manner in which they reflect the light, appearing to possess 

 considerable depth. The effect presented by these ridges is really marvellous, the rich 

 iridescence of delicate pink, green and blue, with the slightest imaginable lines of 

 golden light marking them, being quite beyond the powers of description or even of 

 artificial colors. Each ridge is perforated by a single hole near its extremity, and their 

 course is marked even on the interior of the shell. 



The animal of the Guernsey Ear-shell is largely eaten, but requires careful manage- 

 ment in the cookery, as it is liable to be tough and stringy if badly handled. Before 

 being subjected to the culinary art, it is well beaten, like a beef-steak, and is then 

 cooked in various ways. 



A SIMILARLY shaped shell, but without any perforations on the edge, may be seen 

 creeping along the ground. This is the STOMATIA, or FURROWED EAR-SHELL, so called 

 because the place of the holes is supplied by a single groove or furrow. This shell is 

 a native of the hotter seas. Its color is pale reddish gray on the exterior, and pearly 

 within. 



AT the top of the same illustration, a very curious snail-like shell may be seen, 

 floating on the water, and attached to a kind of raft. This is the VIOLET-SNAIL, so 

 called from the beautiful violet-blue of the shell. 



The Violet Snail inhabits several seas, and is most common in the Atlantic Ocean, 

 though it is also found in the Mediterranean ; and a few specimens are occasionally 

 driven upon our shores. Though in the look of the shell there is nothing sufficiently 

 remarkable to attract notice, the habits and structure of the animal -are most curious and 

 interesting. The Janthina is essentially a surface species, always floating about, inca- 

 pable of directing its course, and not even able to sink when threatened with danger. 

 Being quite at the mercy of the winds and waves, it is often seen floating in great numbers, 

 thus denoting the existence of some aerial or marine current, and may in such cases be 

 swept up by thousands. 



The most remarkable peculiarity in this creature is the so-called " raft," a projection 

 from the foot, which is probably a modification of the operculum, and is capable of 

 discharging some of the duties of that organ. This raft, as may be seen from the 

 engraving, is of great size when compared with the shell, and is composed of a vast 

 number of small air-sacs, which render the whole structure extremely buoyant. Over 

 these sacs the creature has no control, its utmost power over the raft being limited to 

 its partial withdrawal into the aperture of the shell so as to close its mouth after the 

 manner of the operculum. 



Beneath the raft may be seen a great number of little pendent vesicles. These are 

 the egg-capsules ; and it is evident that those at the extremity of the raft are the first 

 formed, as the capsules at the farther end are often found to have dismissed their 

 inhabitants, while those in the middle contained young nearly ready for entrance into 



