CHAPTER LI: THE TURBAN SHELLS AND 



STAR SHELLS 



Family TuRBiNiDyE 



Shell spiral, turban-shaped, solid, with simple circular 

 or oval aperture; operculum calcareous, heavy, convex outside, 

 with thin, flat, spiral, horny layer on inner face, nucleus not central. 

 Body with oval foot, square in front, bearing cirrhi along sides; 

 head bears a veil between the two long tentacles, with two eyes 

 on short stalks at their outer bases; radula well developed; food 

 vegetable; habitat, shores of warm oceans. A large family of 

 several genera, chiefly distinguished from the Trochidae by the 

 calcareous nature of the thick operculum, and by its few coils. 



Genus TURBO, Linn. 



Shell turban-shaped, usually large, heavy; whorls rounded; 

 aperture nearly round, more or less drawn out at base; operculum 

 circular, flat or concave inside. 



The Green Snail (T. marmoratus, Linn.) of the curio-dealer 

 and collector, is the giant of th^ family of turban shells. It has 

 the characteristic turban shape with the spire somewhat de- 

 pressed, and the whorls few, square-shouldered and knobbed, the 

 body whorl much larger than the others. The largest shells are 

 eight inches in height and diameter. The columellar region is 

 excavated considerably; there is no umbilicus. 



In its natural state the green snail shell has a horny outer 

 layer of rich green mottled with brown and white. It has opaline 

 tints which exhibit much more beauty when the surface is rubbed 

 to free it of the horny layer. Green prevails in the rainbow 

 tints when the outer shell layer is entirely removed, leaving the 

 surface uniformly pearly, inside and out. 



As an ornament for shell cabinets and mantelpieces these 

 "green snails" are familiar to many. In Scandinavia the mon- 

 archs have from the earliest times had these shells mounted in 

 silver and studded with gems for royal drinking cups. They 



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