GASTROPODS . 
37 i 
near the middle. The siphon is long, and protruded through the notch at the 
anterior or narrow end of the shell. They are not very active creatures, but crawl 
about slowly in holes in the rocks, or fissures of coral-reefs, in depths ranging from 
low-water mark to thirty or forty fathoms. The shells are generally strong and 
solid, and as the animal grows and requires more room, it absorbs the early whorls, 
leaving only a very thin partition between them; but, in order to preserve the 
proper weight of the shell, it thickens up the spire within. All the species are 
formed on one plan, but the extremes vary considerably in form. This variation, 
difference of sculpture, periostracum, and colour, constitute the characters upon 
which the species are founded. 
Some of the handsome and 
rarer forms fetch very high 
prices. Conus cedo - nulli, 
which is found in the West 
Indies, is, besides being rare, 
remarkable for the variation 
of its colour-markings. C. 
cervus, C. adamsoni, Cl thomce, 
C. nobilis, and C. delesserti, 
are some of the most highly 
treasured, but the celebrated 
C. gloria - mavis, from the 
Molucca and Philippine 
Islands, of which only about a dozen specimens are known, is still considered the 
finest shell of all, and a full-grown specimen in good condition would probably now 
realise about forty or fifty pounds. t Some, such as C. betulinus and C. suratensis % 
are extremely solid, but a few, C. geographus and C. tulipa, are very thin. It has 
been asserted that certain species have no operculum, but this is now believed to 
be incorrect. This structure is small, horny, narrow, and, being much smaller than 
the aperture of the shell, in no way serves the purpose of defence. A large number 
of fossil species have been described from the Tertiary formations. Some instances 
are on record of persons having been bitten by cones when handling them, and it 
is said that the bite, to some extent, is poisonous, but whether this character is 
peculiar to a few, or common to all the species, we have no means of knowing. 
The auger-shells, Terebridce, have a very different appearance to the cones, and 
conchologically do not exhibit any particularly close relationship; although the 
characters of the dentition certainly indicate their approximation. The molluscs 
of this family have a small head with two small cylindrical tentacles, with minute 
eyes at the tips. The foot is small, rounded in front, and elongate behind, and 
supports a small, oval, horny operculum, with an apical nucleus. About two 
hundred and thirty species have been described. They abound in tropical regions, 
but a few occur in more temperate localities, such as Japan, California, and New 
Zealand. Some of the shells are so solid ( Terebra maculata), and others so 
extremely elongated ( T . pretiosa , etc.), that it would appear impossible for the 
animals to carry them erect. Probably, in these instances, the shells are dragged 
along resting upon the surface of the sand. They are all elongate in form, with 
textile cone. Conus textile, (nat. size). 
