30 THE WEST AMEEICAN SCIENTIST. 



a small umbilicus. The inside is reddish brown, while the outside varies much in 

 both form and color. It is not known on our San Diego beaches, bu5 is found 

 abundant on rocks near high water mark just south of the U. S. boundary, and is 

 common northward. 



Purpura biserialis, Blainv., is an extra-limital species of which a single large 

 and line living specimen was found oa the ocean beach near La Hoya, making San 

 Diego the most northern locality known foi" this tropical shell. 



Monoceros lugubre, Sby., is a stout representative of a genus peculiar to the 

 Pacific coast which is found abundant on the rocky beaches iiouth of the U. S., bub 

 rarely found at San Diego. The shell is about an inch long, of a rich chocolate 

 color (rarely light yellow or white) and is broader and larger than our other species. 

 The genus receives its generic name from a little horn near the base of the outer lip, 

 on account of which it is sometimes called the horn shell. 



M. engonatum, Conr., is a more elongated and smaller shell with a white mouth. 

 The outside is marked with spiral grooves, which with the lines of growth break up 

 the outer covering or epidermis into little brown blocks with *' streets " of olivaceous 

 green between. Blainville's var. spiratum is larger, more angular and less regularly 

 marked off into blocks. M. pauciliratum, Stearns, on the other hand is more reg- 

 ularly marked off into squares, is less elongated and smaller. All these shells are 

 very thick and strong, as is usual with shore shells where there is danger of being 

 dished against the rocks. They all also possess about seven teeth on the outer lip. 



Chorus belcheri, Hinds, formerly abun iant at San Diego (during the early 

 whale fisheries), forms the last repre tentative of the murex family found on our 

 coast. It is a huge shell, four to six inches long, light brown color, with a long 

 canal, and easily distingais'ied by its tapering spire, bristling wi!^.h a crown of long, 

 sharp points. Now rare at San Diego but common further south; large numbers of 

 the dead shells of this and the following species, with Siphonalia kellebtii, being 

 washed ashore frequently on Todos Santos bay Lower California. 



The second family ii the class under consideration is the Triton family, of which 

 Ranella Californica is our only shell which can claim to be a member. The frog 

 shell (as it is sometimes called) is a solid, light-colored shell with two heavy folds 

 on opposite sides, lar e canal and spire of about four whorls. Edge of the aperture 

 crenulated. Length, three to six inches. Not rare; preys on sand urchins (Echina- 

 rachnius), renillas and other marine animals, bullas, etc. 



[To be continued.] 



In the Ourrah mode of watering plants in India, a common water-pot styled 

 codimi is used. The pot has a small movith and a small hole is knocked into the 

 bottom and the pot is then buried to a depth of one-third its size as near the stem 

 of the plant as possible, and kept constantly fillei with water which very gradually 

 oozes into the soil through the minute opening at the bottom without causing wa^te 

 by spilling or evaporation. The method is used with great success. 



The Indian farmers on Pyramid Lake, Nevada, thresh their wheat by hand and 

 winnow it in baskets just as the Egyptians did three thousand years ago. 



