dangerous, the large Conus marmoreus 

 being able to inflict a severe wound. The 

 cone is quite pugnacious and will imme- 

 diately bite the hand when picked up, a 

 veritable reptile of the ocean. 



The ne plus ultra of mollusks to the 

 collector is without doubt the genus Cy- 

 praea, comprising the cowry shells. So 

 eagerly have they been sought by wealthy 

 collectors that the price of rarities has 

 gone up to an astonishing degree, some 

 specimens being sold at several hundred 

 dollars each. The shell is highly polished, 

 owing to the fact that two lobes of the 

 voluminous mantle are turned back over 

 the shell and meet in the middle of the 

 back. The foot is very large and spread- 

 ing, the mantle beset with curious little 

 tentacular-like organs and the eyes are 

 placed on small swellings near the base 

 of the long, cylindrical tentacles. The 

 color-patterns of the shell vary to a won- 

 derful degree. The young shell has a 

 thin epidermis, a sharp lip to the aper- 

 ture and a more or less prominent spire, 

 the rolled over and toothed lip and pol- 

 ished surface not being acquired until 

 fully adult. No more beautiful sight can 

 be imagined than one of these gorgeous 

 animals, as seen through the clear water, 

 crawling over the sandy bottom or on 

 the branch of some coral. 



Several of the cowries have a curious 

 economic value. Thus, Cypraea auran- 

 tia, the orange cowry, was used as an in- 

 signia of royalty by the chiefs of the 

 Friendly Islands, and for a long time the 

 only specimens obtainable were those 

 which had been bored and used. The 

 money cowry (Cypraea moneta) has been 

 used as money by the natives of Western 

 Africa, and many tons of this small shell 

 were annually imported to England to be 

 used in barter by the African traders. 

 The shell is of a yellowish or whitish 

 color, does not exceed an inch in length, 

 and is very common in the Pacific and 

 Indian Oceans. It is still used as a me- 

 dium of barter in parts of Africa, al- 

 though other things have pretty gener- 

 ally taken its place. 



Cameos were at one time quite in the 

 fashion, both as ornaments for the per- 

 son in the way of brooches, and as bric- 

 a-brac about the room. These shell- 

 cameos are made from the genus Cassis, 



the helmet shells. These are well adapt- 

 ed for this purpose, as the shell is made 

 up of several differently colored layers,, 

 making a ba9 relief figure not only pos- 

 sible but very effective. The black hel- 

 met (Cassis madagascariensis) is one of 

 the best for this purpose, the figure being 

 carved from the white, outer layer of 

 shell, which stands out very clearly 

 against the black background of the sec- 

 ond layer. When a cameo is desired 

 simply as a brooch or for any other form 

 of personal adornment, a piece of the 

 shell is cut out and shaped into the re- 

 quired form and size — oval, square or 

 other shape — and cemented to a block of 

 wood. The figure is then traced on the 

 shell with a pencil and finally carefully 

 worked out with sharp, pointed steel in- 

 struments, of delicate size and form. The 

 same process is resorted to in working 

 out a bas relief on the entire shell, only 

 the latter is placed in a vice or other ob- 

 ject to hold it firmly. The home of this 

 industry i9 Genoa and Rome, Italy, al- 

 though some are produced in France; 

 these latter, however, are of a poorer 

 quality. Several thousand people are em- 

 ployed in this trade. Many beautiful ex- 

 amples of this work were exhibited at the 

 World's Columbian Exposition, in Chi- 

 cago, in 1893. 



The cameo shells are among the largest 

 of sea snails, several of them measuring 

 eight or ten inches in length and weigh- 

 ing several pounds. They are found only 

 in tropical and subtropical seas, living in 

 comparatively shallow waters on a sandy 

 bottom. They are voracious eaters, liv- 

 ing principally on bivalve mollusks. 



One of the most abundant of mollusks 

 is the violet sea snail (Ianthinia com- 

 munis), which spends its life floating in 

 the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The 

 shell is very delicate, resembling in form 

 some of the land snails, and has but two 

 colors, both shades of violet, a deep color 

 on the under side (which, by the way, is 

 always turned upward when the animal is 

 floating in the water), and a lighter shade 

 on the upper side. So fragile is the shell 

 that it seems as if a breath would break 

 it. The most interesting fact in connec- 

 tion with this mollusk is the wonderful 

 float or "raft" which is secreted by the 

 foot, and to the under side of which the 



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