IN FEATHERS AND FUR. 
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which has been so lovingly described by one of her naturalists, 
that I must tell you about it, just to show you how much beauty 
can be packed in an atom of a shell, no bigger than a pea. To 
begin with, the shell is covered with ridges, alternately colored 
white and flesh color. The foot is twice the size of the shell, and 
is of a pale orange color. The mantle which turns up over the 
shell is of a light yellow color, spotted with black, and having a 
border of red. Its proboscis is red also, as are its tentacles, which 
are also specked with yellow. There, isn't that a gorgeous crea- 
ture to come out of a crack in a shell no bigger than a pea ! 
Cowries are used for ornaments the world over. We put 
them in our cabinets, and cut them into cameos, while the people 
on the Asiatic coast make bracelets, collars, head-dresses, orna- 
ments for boxes and harnesses of them. The New Zealanders 
wear them on the neck, and some African tribes adorn their hair 
with them. 
Here is another shell, not exactly a Cowry, but the next thing 
to it, and so near like it that you and I can hardly find any 
difference. It is called the Poached Egg, because in size and 
color it looks very much like a nicely poached egg, as it reposes on 
a slice of toast. The picture is the size of life. 
