56 Beautiful Shells. 



in the African and Indian Seas. This is the T. 

 terebra of naturalists; the first name referring to 

 the turret shape common to the genus, and the 

 last being the Latin word for an auger, or piercer. 

 The Roseate Turritella (I 7 , rosea) is also sometimes 

 seen in collections ; the beautiful rosy tint of the 

 live shell changes to a dull red or brown, on the 

 death of the mollusk. 



TROCHUS, OR TOP-SHELL. 



" Of the shelled Mollusca which the dredge 

 ever and anon brings up/' says Mr. Gosse, in his 

 delightful volume on the Aquarium,, or Aqua- 

 vivarium, as the glass tank in which living 'marine 

 animals and vegetables are kept, is called, from the 

 Latin aqua — water, and vivo — to live, " the Trochi 

 are among the most conspicuous for beauty. The 

 chief glory of this genus is the richly-painted 

 internal surface of their shells, in which they are 

 not excelled by any even of the true margaritiferous 

 or pearly bivalves." 



Of this Trochidce family, a few of the members 

 must be introduced to our readers; it is rather a 



