GLASS II. GASTEROPODA: ORDER 2. BRANCHIFERA. 609 
SHELL FROM MALABAR. LARGE MDSSEL. THOENED MURBX. LARGE HELMET SHELL. 
rUOM THE MEDITERRANEAN. FROM MADAGASCAR. 
THE MURICID^. 
Tliis is a very extensive family, some of the species teing furnished with a long proboscis, Avith 
which they bore through the shells of other moUusca, and thus suck out the juices and destroy 
the animal within. The foot is broad, and adapted to crawling ; the tentacles are short, and 
sometimes bear the eyes. All a,re marine and predatory ; the shells are usually ornamented with 
spines ; some assume very singular forms, and many are of very beautiful colors. The ancients 
obtained their purple dye from these animals ; heaps of the shells may be still seen on the rocks 
of the Tyrian shores, and also on the coasts of the Morea, where it appears they were used in 
the same manner as by the Tyrians. One himdred 
and eighty living and one hundred and sixty fos.sil 
species are known. 
Genus MUREX : Murex. — This includes the Sting- 
WiNKLB or Hedge-Hog Murex, M, erinaceus, com- 
mon in the English Channel. The shell of the 
Thornt Woodcock, M. tribulus, sometimes called 
Venus^s Comb, is much prized by collectors, if in a 
perfect state ; it is often very delicate and beautiful. 
This is a native of the Moluccas and parts of the 
The M. regius is found on the west coast of Central America, and surpasses 
THE THORNY WOODCOCK. 
Indian Ocean. 
