PURPURAS— MUEBXES. 29 



though the largest and most beautiful are 

 found in the tropics. 



" The regularly arranged spines upon many 

 of the shells of this family give them a curious 

 and to some varieties a very beautiful appear- 

 ance. The ' black murex ' {Murex radix), with 

 its decorations like fringes of brown and black, 

 comes from the tropics, and is a beautiful shell. 

 Its rival, however, is the ' rose murex ' {Murex 

 palma-rosce) from Ceylon, bordered ^vith rich- 

 est brown and lined with delicate rose. 



"The 'woodcock shell' {Murex tennispind) 

 is a singular, spiny variety of Murex, with a 

 long and slender beak. It is called Venus's 

 comb. This and the following one are the 

 shells the poets call the ' comb of pearl,' and 

 sing of how with it the mermaid 



" Sits on diamond rocks, 

 Sleeking her soft, alluring locks. 



Murex tribuhbs, found in the Indian seas, has a 

 pearly shell with very thin, regular, and elon- 

 gated spines." 



Where the mermaid is spen in our picture 

 combing her hair vdth her comb of pearl, the 

 beautiful Murex tennispina is the " comb " ; 

 and the large number of long, parallel curved 

 spines and the recurved shorter ones with 



