IX FEATHERS AXD FUR. 339 
THE LITTLE CREATURES THAT LIVE IX THE 
COWRY SHELLS, . 
Isn't this a comical looking little fellow, crawling along with 
his house on his back ? When I was a child I used to wonder 
what sort of an animal lived in the Cowry Shells, so long and 
oval in shape, and with such a very narrow opening ; and I dare say 
you have often had the same thoughts, for Cowries are among the 
most common shells in collections. You have seen them given to 
baby to play with, put into toes of stockings to darn over, orna- 
mented with the " Lord's Prayer " on the back, and have many a 
time held one to your ear "to hear the roar of the sea"— I dare 
say. And now here is a picture of it as it looks in the sea, when 
its owner and builder is at home, and taking a promenade in all his 
glory. 
The broad part of the animal which rests on the ground, is 
called the foot, because with it he walks about. Happily he has 
but one, since it is larger than all the rest of his body. That part 
which is turned up, partly covering the shell, and ornamented with 
various little tufts, is the mantle, and it can be drawn up so as 
nearly or quite to cover the shell, the two sides meeting at the top. 
It is this useful mantle that builds the shell. 
At one end, you see the two tentacles with the droll little black 
eyes near the base of them, and the proboscis sticking out between. 
Inside the proboscis are thousands of stiff hairs which by their 
movement keep up a constant current of sea water, by which the 
Cowry is able to breathe. 
Now all this great body of flesh — foot, mantle, and all — comes 
out of a narrow slit in the shell, and what is more, it can be drawn 
