The Cone Shells 



above the average. As cones go, this is unusually thin for its 

 size. The spire is rounded but very low; the sutures are chan- 

 neled. Each whorl has an angled shoulder next to the suture. 

 The surface is white overlaid with cloudy bands made of small 

 dots and patches and zigzags of brownish yellow. 



Habitat. — East Africa. 



The Rhododendron Cone (C. rhododendron, ]a.y) borrows its 

 colour from the flowering shrub familiar to many in parks and 

 gardens. It does not abandon brown altogether, but subordinates 

 it to the broad mottled bands of bluish rose colour. The white 

 areas between have fine brown dots sprinkled over them, and 

 brown stains overlie the rose-colour to a varying extent. 

 The china-like shell is deeply grooved upon the flat spire, below 

 the sharp angle of the body whorl, and on its lower half. The 

 middle portion is smooth. 



This Australasian species averages about two inches in 

 length. Tryon thinks it "perhaps the most beautiful species in the 

 genus." To be positive on this question is impossible. 



The Glory of the Sea (C gloria-maris, Hwass) is a cone of 

 unusal slenderness, with a high-peaked spire. It is magnificent in 

 finely reticulated orange brown lines, enclosing triangular spaces. 

 Over this network are three unequal bands of deep chestnut, 

 made of small blotches set in somewhat regular order. The 

 length of this species ranges from three to five inches. This is 

 a very rare and highly prized species. 



Habitat. — Philippines. 



Hugh Cuming, the great English shell collector, loved to tell 

 of his varied and thrilling experiences in the Pacific Islands. 

 The most wonderful event of his life occurred on the Philippine 

 Island of Juena. He was out on a coral reef. Casually turning 

 over a stone he saw three living specimens of the rare and costly 

 gloria-maris before his eyes. "I almost fainted with delight!" 

 he exclaimed in recounting the event. But he did n't. Two 

 were young ones, the third an adult. They are now safe in 

 cabinets; every collector of cones knows just where, and just 

 how rich he ought to be if he hopes ever to buy one. 



Cuming made his unexampled "find" in 1838. In a short 

 time an earthquake shook that reef into the sea. There have 

 been no more cones of the coveted species found in that region. 

 Indeed, the whole number known to conchologists is less than a 



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