Norwich Castle Museum. liga 
Australia by Capt. Owen Stanley, to whom the various 
collections in the museum are so much indebted. 
Solarium perspectivum is known as the ‘Staircase 
Shell” from the fancied resemblance of its whorls 
seen in the umbilicus, to a spiral staircase; it is a 
handsome shell, the species are mostly natives of the 
tropical seas. 
The next two families, Tursinip# and TrocHipaé, 
are very extensive ones ; the shells of both are beauti- 
fully pearly within, and highly ornamented exteriorly. 
There are many species in the collection, some quite in 
the rough as when captured, others cleaned, and 
others still, from which the outer coating of shell has 
been removed, showing the pearly structure below. 
The operculum of an Indio-Pacific species of Top 
Shell (Zurbo petholatus) is frequently mounted as a 
‘brooch or scarf-pin. 
The Ormers or Ear Shells (/a/rozis), so called from 
their ear-shaped shells, are found attached to rocks 
like limpets in most of the tropical and temperate 
regions of the world except South America. One 
species is found in the Channel Islands. Hatotis 
iris, a New Zealand species, is among the most 
beautiful. Some lovely examples are in the Taylor 
collection. ‘The Violet Snails (/az¢hina) are extremely 
pretty, deep violet at the base shading off to white 
in the spiral. They frequent the open Atlantic, 
sometimes drifting to our shores, and are remarkable 
for constructing a float or raft attached to the foot, on 
the under surface of which the eggs of the female 
are secured; they thus float in a helpless condition 
on the surface of the sea, and in rough weather are 
quite at the mercy of the waves. 
We now come to the Limpets, some of which 
(Fissurellide), perforated at the apex, are known as the 
“Keyhole” Limpets. They spend their time attached 
H 
