202 MOLLUSKS: GASTEROPODS. 



admired for its beautiful form and its delicate colors. 

 The Olive Shell, of Panama, is very beautiful, and is 

 taken alive by bait attached to lines. 



CONES. 



There are nearly a thousand kinds of these Gastero- 

 pods, which are shaped like a cone with the top down- 

 wards. 



VOLUTES. 



The Volutes, Mitre-Shell, and Marginella belong un- 

 der this head. Figures 378-380. 



COWRIES. 



The Cowries are abundant in the warm seas, and 

 are found on reefs and under rocks. The shell has a 

 shining enamelled surface, and many kinds are beau- 

 tifully spotted and clouded. The Asiatic islanders use 

 them to adorn their clothing, and for sinkers to their 

 fishing-nets, and in trading. One kind, called the 

 Money-Cowry, is brought in immense quantities from 

 the Pacific to England, and then carried to Western 

 Africa, where it is used for money in trading with the 

 natives. This is a small kind scarcely an inch long. 

 The Egg-Cowry and the Cypraea of the Indian Ocean 

 show the general form of these shells. Figures 381- 

 383. 



NATICAS, PYRAMID-SHELLS, CERITHIUMS, &c. 



The Naticas are sea-snails which have the shell some- 

 what globe-shaped. The Pyramid-Shells are so named 

 from their shape. The Cerithiums are named from a 

 word which means a horn. The Melanias are fresh- 

 water shells, common in the Western and Southern 

 States. 



