THE COLOURS OF COWRIES 
Amonc all the treasures of the shell-cabinet few are more 
generally attractive than the cowries, or kauris (Cypraea), 
which form the type of a family by themselves. Rivalling 
the olives in the brilliancy of their polished enamel, they 
exceed those shells in the beauty and diversity of their 
coloration, while their form in the adult state is so peculiar 
as to attract the attention of even the most unobservant. 
Possibly the very fact that many of them are so common 
as, like the tiger and Surinam-toad cowry, to be employed 
as decorative objects for our chimney-pieces, has, to a 
certain extent, detracted in popular estimation from their 
many striking peculiarities. But even if this be so, a 
moment’s comparison with any other shell will at once 
show how different they really are. And if rarity be an 
additional attraction, some among the couple of hundred or 
so of living species are worthy of attention, even from 
this not very elevated standpoint. Take, for instance, 
the prince cowry (C. princeps) and the spotted cowry 
(C. guttata), examples of which have sold respectively for 
forty and forty-two pounds; while the beautiful orange 
cowry, used as a head ornament by the chiefs of the Friendly 
Islands, formerly fetched about twenty pounds, although 
good specimens can now be bought at from three to five 
pounds. Other species claim attention on account of 
their commercial uses, the ring cowry being employed by 
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