46 Beautiful Shells. 



smooth, delicate shell, and to come from the same 

 root as Physalite, which means a topaz : the members 

 of this genus are very numerous, being found nearly- 

 all over the globe. The next belongs to the family 

 Auriculadce, or Ear Shells. The Midas' Bar (A. 

 Midce), this handsome shell is prized by collectors ; 

 it comes from the East Indies. Midas, it is said, 

 was one who set himself up for a judge of music in 

 the old fabulous times, and not appreciating that of 

 Apollo, was rewarded by the angry god with a pair 

 of ass's earSc 



The Cone-shaped Melampus (M. comiformis), 

 also an Ear Shell, is found in the rivers of the 

 Antilles Islands. It is a pretty shell; the formation 

 is much the same as that of many of the most highly- 

 prized varieties of Marine Shells ; of these we shall 

 have to speak presently. Melampodium in Latin; 

 signifies a poisonous plant called Black Hellebore ; 

 in the Mythology, Melampus was a great magician, 

 who did all sorts of wonderful things; but we 

 cannot tell what relation there exists between either 

 the plant or the magician and this pretty cone shell. 

 To give variety to this group, we will now throw in 

 a land species called Megaspira Buschenbergiana, 

 about the origin of whose name we cannot even 

 hazard a guess; the termination of the generic name, 



