THE GUERNSEY EAR-SHELL. 329 



creature is beautifully pearly, and when the outer coating is removed the iridescent nacre 

 below has a very lovely appearance. Jewellers and lapidaries employ these shells largely 

 in their art, polishing them carefully and then stringing them together so as to form 

 bracelets and necklaces, or affixing them as ornaments to various head-dresses. Another 

 little shell, called Turbo Versicolor, which is brought from Southern America, is also used 

 for similar purposes. The specimens of Top-shells which are found in the sands are seldom 

 quite perfect, the apex of the spine being usually worn down and rubbed so as to display 

 the sub-lying nacre. 



About one hundred and fifty species of Trochus are known, some of them attaining con- 

 siderable dimensions, and all possessing shells of exceeding beauty. The form of the animal 

 is peculiar. The tentacles are rather long, and the eyes are seen at the extremity of the little 

 footstalks, at their base. The neck-lappets are rather large, and the sides are furnished with 

 lobes and tentacular projections. The operculum is horny, flat, and spiral. Trochi are found 

 all over the world, and have a considerable water range, being captured at all depths, from the 

 shallow waters of the shore to a depth of a hundred fathoms. 



Another beautiful species of Trochus is the Nilotic Top, a shell which is remarkable for 

 the rich contrast of scarlet flashes on a white ground. One of the rarest species of this genus 

 is the Imperial Top {Trochus imperial is), a shell which has hitherto been found only in New 

 Zealand, and may probably be confined to that strange land. It is a handsome as well as a 

 rare species, and is notable for the bold rounded projections which radiate from the whorls. 

 Its color is violet-brown above and white below. Some authors, however, separate this shell 

 from the Trochi, and place it in a separate genus, on account of the toothed whorls. 



The Dolphin-shell affords another instance of the entire discrepancy between the shell 

 and the popular name that is given to it, this species bearing no more resemblance to a dolphin 

 than to a roach, a cow, or a peacock. 



The Ass's Ear is one of the larger species of the genus Haliotis, and is one of the most 

 beautiful among the shells. Even wdien rough and unpolished, just as it appears after the 

 removal of the animal, the rich iridescence of its interior is almost dazzling in the intense 

 brilliancy of its coloring; and when, by the use of acids, the rough outer coat is removed and 

 the nacreous substance of the shell exposed, there is hardly any marine production that 

 approaches it and none that surpasses it in beauty. 



This is a very useful shell to the manufacturer, its thick solid substance, with its lovely 

 iridescence, rendering it well adaptable for the construction of buttons and similar 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 the peculiarly 

 corrugated structure produces a very beautiful effect, either when ground and polished or 

 suffered to retain its ordinary contour. 



The Guernsey Ear-shell is 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, sweeping 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 management 

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



Vol. III.— 43. 



