76 
ANIMAL LIFE ON THE 
something of a representation may still at times be seen 
worn upon the hats of the coachmen of the nobility. These 
creatures are sometime scalled the "Butterflies of the sea;" 
not only on account of their swimming progress through 
the water, resembling the here-away, there-away flights 
of these insects, but also on account of the beautiful and 
variegated colours of the shells. But these outward tints, 
when contrasted with the beauty of the interior organs, are 
as the blighted colours of the herbage of early winter 
compared to the gorgeous flowery robes of summer. 
Let us immerse our specimen in our clear glass bottle of 
sea water. Soon he finds himself at home, and the edges of 
the valves begin to part asunder. In a few minutes the 
opening is wide enough to enable us to see to the extremity 
of the interior, where, at the opposite or hinge portion, the 
light is streaming in. With the first glance of the lens, the 
various colours, which vary in every specimen, at once fill 
the eye, and strike the beholder with wonder and admira- 
tion. 0 what grandeur ! is the exclamation. Cleopatra, 
with all the bejewelled splendour at her command, was no 
match for this. 
THE INTERIOR ORGA.NS. 
Amongst the gaily caparisoned organs, the most 
conspicuous is in the centre, stretching out like a lustrous 
blood-red carnelian interspersed with flaky tints of grey as 
soft as a summer cloud. From the light streaming in 
beyond, the great muscle is spreading a tint of white 
throughout a field of gold. Nearer the edges two beauti- 
fully corded organs, one above and another below, wear a 
tinge of pink, overcast with a haze of blue, as transparent 
as the ether on the hills ; and almost on the lip of the white 
enamelled ground of the comb-toothed shells, stretching 
