310 
LITTLE FOLKS 
back, entirely out of sight, so that the shell looks much like those 
you have seen on shelves. There is a wonderful difference in the 
looks of the beautiful creature when crawling about in the water 
with all its bright colors exposed, and in the same fellow after it 
has been taken up, when everything is jerked into the house in a 
twinkle. 
Cowries are very timid little creatures, and live in crevices in 
the rocks, or buried in the sand. A few kinds are found in the 
north, but most of the family live in the Indian ocean. They 
only come out for their food, which consists of small sea creatures. 
The one in the picture is called the Tiger Cowry, because of the 
marking on his shell. 
But I must tell you how the shell is made. It begins before 
the young Cowry leaves the egg f and is made by the mantle. 
Certain glands in that, have the power of depositing a sort of 
animal matter which hardens, and then is lined by a coating of the 
same stuff mixed with a chalky material. Another thin layer of 
the animal matter is then laid on the outside, and when hard, is 
lined as before. So it goes on, as it grows, building larger till it 
has got its growth and the shell is done. But all the time, it has 
been getting its beautiful colors from certain glands in that won- 
derful mantle, and at last it has only to receive its coat of enamel, 
a hard glassy surface which protects it. Sometimes some other 
shell will become attached to the Cowry before the enamel is put 
on ; in which case, the intruding shell is also covered with enamel, 
and held there for life. 
The curious little creature can 
also mend his beautiful shell house, 
which he does by the same process, of 
laying on a coating of animal matter, 
mixed with chalk, to harden it. 
Perhaps you have heard of the 
Cowries which are used for money in 
India and Africa. They are small 
yellow shells ; here is a picture of 
one — on both sides. They are collected on the coast by the 
women, after the spring tides, heaped up in the sun, where the un- 
fortunate little animal, of course, soon dies, and leaves his pretty 
house to be used for money. 
There is a pretty little Cowry found on the coast of England, 
