232 



POPULAR CONCHOLOGY. 



are closed up with shelly matter and become 

 solidified. 



Nearly all the species are inhabitants of 

 the Indian Ocean, and many of them exhibit 

 the most beautiful colours on their internal 

 surface. 



98. Strombus. — Shell thick and oval; spire 

 moderate ; mouth long, and rather 

 narrow, terminated by a canal 

 more or less long and recurved; 

 right lip dilated in the adult, and 

 having a small notch or sinus near 

 the canal; left lip sometimes 

 thickened ; operculum horny, long 

 and narrow. Animal, head furnished with a 

 proboscis and two tentacula, which are short ; 

 the eyes are situated on footstalks longer than 

 the tentacula : foot small. — 32 species recent, 

 and 1 fossil. 



These shells are brought from India, Africa, 

 and other hot countries. Many of them attain 

 a large size; and the Strombus gigas is used 

 for the purpose of paving the streets at Santa 

 Cruz, and elsewhere. The spire is in many 

 species quite hidden by the expansion of the 



