Beauty and Value of Shells. 9 



his buildings, and shapes in which to fashion his 

 articles of luxury or utility. 



The most beautiful scroll-work of marble 

 chimney-pieces, cornices of rooms, and other 

 enriched portions of both public and private struc- 

 tures, are those in which the forms of shells have 

 been taken for the patterns of the artistic designs ; 

 and how tasteful and appropriate is the employment 

 of the shells themselves as ornaments for the 

 mantel-piece, sideboard, and chiffonnier. Then, 

 too — 



" The rainbow -tinted shell, which lies 

 Miles deep at bottom of the sea, hath all 

 Colours of skies, and flowers, and gems, and plants." 



Not only has it grace and elegance of form, but 

 it has also richness, and delicacy, and variety of 

 colouring. In some species the tints are intensely 

 vivid as the shifting lights of the aurora borealis, 

 or the glowing hues of an autumnal sunset; in 

 others pale and delicate as the first indications 

 of coming morn, or the scarcely perceptible tinge 

 of a just-expanding flower-bud; in some the 

 colours are arranged in patterns, regularly disposed ; 

 in others, in masses and blotches, of varying shapes 

 and degrees of intensity ; in some again they seem 

 to change and melt one into the other, like the 



