314 THE WOODCOCK’S HEAD, 
The larger of the two specimens represents the shell which is popularly known under the 
name of THorNy Woopcock, the latter title being given to it, in common with several of its 
congeners, on account of the long beak, which is thought to bear some resemblance to that of 
the woodcock, and the former in allusion to the vast number of lengthened spines or thorns 
which are arranged regularly over its surface. It has also received 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. 





















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































COMMON WOODCOCK-SHELL.—Murex erindceus. THORNY WOODCOCK.—Murex tenuispinis. 
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 posi- 
tion of the eyes, to which reference has already been made. This is the common Woopcock, 
or HEDGEHOG-SHELL. 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. 
One or two other species belonging to this genus require a passing notice. The Woop- 
cook’s Heap (Murex haustellum), remarkable for its long peak and rounded shell, inhabits 
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. 
