418 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
natives of the seas which bathe the Moluccas : they are beautifully 
marked varieties, of a brownish citron colour, marked with white spots 
nearly triangular, with tawny bands painted in very fine tracery- 
This species has been, and is still, much sought after by collectors, and 
presents many varieties besides those represented. 
Among the shells, which seem almost ready to become cylindrical, 
may be noted Conus nobilis (Fig. YU.), a rare shell of yellowish colour 
approaching citron, ornamented with white spots. The golden drop, 
Conus textile (Fig. VIII.), is yellow in colour, ornamented with waving 
longitudinal lines of brown, and white corded spots edged with tawny 
colour. The glory of the sea, Conus gloria marts (Fig. IX.), is white m 
colour, banded with orange, and reticulated with numerous triangular 
white spots edged with brown. This is a native of the East Indies, 
and one of the most beautiful shells of the whole group. 
The porcelain shells, or Cyprtea, are brilliant, smooth, and polished, 
qualities which have procured for them the denomination under which 
they are best known. They are oval-shaped or oblong convex, with 
edges rolling inwards and longitudinal openings, narrow, arched, 
dentate on both edges, and notched at the extremities. The spiral, 
placed quite posteriorly, is very small, and often hidden by a calcareous 
bed of a vitreous appearance. 
It is now known that the form and colouring of the shells vary 
very considerably, according to the age of the animal : so much so, 
indeed, that the same species examined at various stages of its growth 
would almost seem to species and even to genera essentially different. 
In their youth Porcelains are thin, conical, elongated ; with con- 
spicuous, spiral, and large openings. The right edge soon becomes 
thicker, and folds itself inwardly ; the opening is restricted ; finally, the 
spiral is unfolded in successive folds from the right edge, and by 
successive deposits of the vitreous matter we have spoken of the 
opening is gradually contracted, its extremities hollowed out, its edg eS 
disconnected, and the shell, until now only shaded in pale tints, 
assumes its most brilliant colours, disposed in bands or spots, as exhi- 
bited in Pn. XXII., in which Figs. I. and II. are the adult shell 3 ) 
and Fig. III. the young shell, of Cyprsea Scottii. 
The animal which inhabits this shell is elongated, and is provide 
with a well-developed mantle, furnished on the inside with a band 0 
tentacles ; it is able to fold itself up in its shell in such a manner as 
