THE GUERNSEY EAR-SHELL. 
329 
creature is beautifully pearly, and when the outer coating is removed the iridescent nacre 
below has a very lovely appearance. Jewellers and lapidaries employ these shells largely 
in their art, polishing them carefully and then stringing them together so as to form 
bracelets and necklaces, or affixing them as ornaments to various head-dresses. Another 
little shell, called Turbo Versicolor, which is brought from Southern America, is also used 
for similar purposes. The specimens of Top-shells which are found in the sands are seldom 
quite perfect, the apex of the spine being usually worn down and rubbed so as to display 
the sub-lying nacre. 
About one hundred and fifty species of Trochus are known, some of them attaining con- 
siderable dimensions, and all possessing shells of exceeding beauty. The form of the animal 
is peculiar. The tentacles are rather long, and the eyes are seen at the extremity of the little 
footstalks, at their base. The neck-lappets are rather large, and the sides are furnished with 
lobes and tentacular projections. The operculum is horny, flat, and spiral. Trochi are found 
all over the world, and have a considerable water range, being captured at all depths, from the 
shallow waters of the shore to a depth of a hundred fathoms. 
Another beautiful species of Trochus is the Ail otic Top, a shell which is remarkable for 
the rich contrast of scarlet flashes on a white ground. One of the rarest species of this genus 
is the Imperial Top ( Trochus imperialist, a shell which has hitherto been found only in Aew 
Zealand, and may probably be confined to that strange land. It is a handsome as well as a 
rare species, and is notable for the bold rounded projections which radiate from the whorls. 
Its color is violet-brown above and white below. Some authors, however, separate this shell 
from the Trochi, and place it in a separate genus, on account of the toothed whorls. 
Tile Dolphin-shell affords another instance of the entire discrepancy between the shell 
and the popular name that is given to it, this species bearing no more resemblance to a dolphin 
than to a roach, a cow, or a peacock. 
The Ass’ s Ear is one of the larger species of the genus Haliotis, and is one of the most 
beautiful among the shells. Even when rough and unpolished, just as it appears after the 
removal of the animal, the rich iridescence of its interior is almost dazzling in the intense 
brilliancy of its coloring; and when, by the use of acids, the rough outer coat is removed and 
the nacreous substance of the shell exposed, there is hardly any marine production that 
approaches it and none that surpasses it in beauty. 
This is a very useful shell to the manufacturer, its thick solid substance, with its lovely 
iridescence, rendering it well adaptable for the construction of buttons and similar articles, 
and also for inlaying in the darker woods. Very beautiful sleeve-links are cut out of the 
muscular impression, its heavy material giving the requisite strength, while the peculiarly 
corrugated structure produces a very beautiful effect, either when ground and polished or 
suffered to retain its ordinary contour. 
The Guernsey Ear-shell is popularly known throughout the Channel Islands by the 
name of Ormer. 
This shell does not attain to so great a size as the preceding, but is, if possible, even more 
beautiful when polished and the opaque outer coat removed by means of acids and hard labor. 
The growth of each successive year is marked by a bold ridge, sweeping in a curve from the 
spine to the edge, and rapidly enlarging towards the margin. These ridges are caused by a 
regular series of furrows, in reality very shallow, but, on account of the peculiar manner in 
which they reflect the light, appearing to possess considerable depth. The effect presented by 
these ridges is really marvellous, the rich iridescence of delicate pink, green, and blue, with the 
slightest imaginable lines of golden light marking them, being quite beyond the powers of 
description, or even of artificial colors. Each ridge is perforated by a single hole near its 
extremity, and their course is marked even on the interior of the shell. 
The animal of the Guernsey Ear-shell is largely eaten, but requires careful management 
in the cookery, as it is liable to be tough and stringy if badly handled. Before being 
Vol. III. — 42 . 
