Cowrie shell

“ The animals are even more brilliantly coloured than the shells. They have no operculum, but a large foot, which they can withdraw entirely within their shell, although the aperture is usually very narrow. Cowries, as is well known, are sold as ornaments; and a small yellow species, “the money-cowry” (C. moneta) , which is very common in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, passes current as coin among the negro tribes of certain parts of Africa. ”

“ This shell (Fig. VII.) is large, oval, tun-bellied, thick, and convex, of a bluish white, ornamented with numerous broad, black, round spots, much scattered, and a straight dorsal line, brown above, and very white below. It has generally twenty-three teeth on each edge, quite white. Somewhat resembling the Tiger Cowrie is the Cypræa pantherina (Fig. 261) , which is perhaps a variety of the same species. Another remarkable species is Cypræa argus, as represented in Pl. XXII. (Figs. VIII. and IX.)
Fig. ”

“ The shells of the Cypræa, genus which are most familiar to the generality of observers, are the spotted Cowries, and some others of usual occurrence. There are others which from their rarity are less extensively known, and among the number we may truly rank the species which we have now before us, the Orange Cowry, or as it is sometimes called, the “Morning Dawn.” The beauty of this shell, as well as scarcity, has established its celebrity; the species is well known, but few collections, excepting those of the more costly kind, possess the shell. ”

“ The most rare and valuable, if not the most beautiful of these Cowries, is the C. aurora, or aurantium, Morning-dawn, or Orange Cowry, a perfect specimen of which has been sold for fifty guineas. There is a very curious shell called the Common Weaver’s Shuttle, (Oculum volva,) generally included in the Cyprea family ”

“ On Plate VII, will be found a group of other Foreign Cowries, most of which will be recognized as familiar ornaments of the mantel and side-board. Fig. 1 is the Spotted or Leopard Cowry, sometimes also called the Tiger Cowry, (C. tigris,) which, in the earlier stages of its growth, is simply marked with broad bands of lighter colour across the shell. Fig. 2, the Map Cowry, (C. mappa,) curiously marked and shaded, so as to resemble a coloured map; there are several varieties of this beautiful shell, such as the rosy and dark variety from the Pearl Islands, in the Indian Ocean ”

“ The cowry shell, which is worn round the neck by children as an antidote to the Evil Eye and diabolical influence, is supposed to have such sympathy with the wearer that it cracks when the evil glance falls upon it, as in England coral was thought to change colour and grow pale when its owner was sick. The cowry shell is, with the same object, tied round the neck or pasterns of a valued horse, or on a cow or buffalo. ”

“ Fig. 3, the Mole Cowry, (C. talpa,) the last word being the Latin for a mole, is of a more slender form than most other species of the Cypræidæ family, so called on account of their beauty, Cyprea being a name of Venus, the goddess of beauty. Any one who has seen a mole, must be struck with the resemblance of its general [40] outline to this shell, of which there is a darker-coloured variety of somewhat stouter form, called exustus—burned or scorched. Of the Poached-egg Cowries there are several species, the most common is called by naturalists Ovulum ovum, Fig. 4, from ovum—an egg ”

“ The animal which inhabits a Cowry shell is a curiosity. The foot is large and spreads out in a wide mass, enabling the animal to glide along quite rapidly. The mantle lobes are folded over the back of the shell and are beset with many little tuft-like organs which stick out like young shoots on a plant. ”

“ The shells of the genus Cypræa, cowry, are general favourites: the species are fifty-eight; one British, C. pediculus. C. moneta (Plate 1) is very common. The generic characters are, shell univalve, involute, obtuse, smooth; aperture linear, the whole length of the shell ”

“ Upwards of 100 species are recognized, and they are widely distributed over the world—their habitat being the shallow water along the sea-shore. The best known is the money cowry or Cypraea moneta, a small shell about half an inch in length, white and straw-coloured without and blue within, which derives its distinctive name from the fact that in various countries it has been employed as a kind of currency. (See Shell-money.) ”

“ If you look on the upper part of the shell, you will see that a pale streak runs across it from one side to the other. This streak marks the line where the edges of the two sides of the body almost meet.
In some parts of the world cowry shells are used instead of money. It seems rather an easy way of getting rich, doesn’t it, just to go and pick up shells on the sea-shore? But then fifteen hundred of these cowries are only worth about a shilling, so that you would have to pick up a very great many even if you only wanted to do a day’s shopping! ”

“ From very ancient times the smaller Cowries have been used for adornment or barter. The Cypraea annulus, or ringed cowrie, which was found by Dr. Layard in the ruins of Nimroud, is said to be the same species which is now used by the islanders of the Indian and Pacific Oceans to weight their fish nets and to adorn their persons. In western Africa the money cowry (Cypraea moneta) has been and is now used as a medium of exchange in place of gold. ”

“ A sand bank of considerable size near Rangiawahia, in Tauranga Harbour, was inhabited by nothing but Turritella rosea. Four other kinds of Turritellæ are found in New Zealand, all smaller, but similar to the above.
TRIVIA AUSTRALIS (Plate VII.) .—Fig. 29 is the New Zealand Cowry shell. It is less than 1/2 inch in length, and is white, with one or more flesh-coloured spots. It is found in the Northern part of Auckland Province and in Australia.
CYLICHNA STRIATA (Plate VII.) .—Fig. 30 is a small, very narrow, smooth white shell. It is found in Auckland. ”

“ Poupart, which led me to examine into the growth of the cowree; and by sawing one of them through the middle, I found a turbinated shell within the outer wall, consisting of six or seven convolutions, but no stages, or periods, of the indented lip appeared in any of the convolutions, as we find in the helmet shell, and several of the buccinæ. I then began to consider how this animal enlarged its dwelling; and was fully convinced, that no more convolutions could be carried on; the indented lips being a full stop to its inward dimensions ”

“ A very few species are natives of the European seas.
"The tiger-cowry is before you; a large and very common species in collections; it also frequently adorns the mantel-piece. There is a remarkable line extending along the back of the shell; at this part the edges of the mantle, that I have before noticed, meet: this line is conspicuous in many species.
"C. aurora is a costly shell from Otaheite and New Zealand; the colour orange, with the base and extremities white. It is large, and has been sold for 60l. when a specimen has been obtained without any perforation. ”

“ If they follow the course of the whorls, they are described as spiral; and if parallel with the peristome, so that they mark the former positions of the mouth of the shell, thus denoting the lines of growth, they are said to be transverse.
Most univalve shells are covered with epidermis, but in some instances the animal, when extended, surrounds the exterior of the shell with its mantle, as do the cowries, and then the outside of the shell is always glazed. Other species keep their shells covered with the mantle, and in these the shell is always colourless. ”

“ In habits the Cowries are shy and they are slow in movement, sliding over the coral reefs and marine vegetation with a sluggish, steady motion. They present a beautiful sight when viewed through the water, their brilliant colors vying with those of corals, sea anemones and sea weeds. ”

“ We must therefore have recourse to the different steps or periods of their life and growth, as they are marked out by the indented lips or foldings of the shell; untill they arrive at their full size; when they begin to fortify themselves, by bulwarks and strong holds, against the injuries and incidents, which attend old age. This is most conspicuous in the cowree, or concha Veneris of Lister, book iv. ”

“ The animal which inhabits this shell is elongated, and is provided with a well-developed mantle, furnished on the inside with a band of tentacles; it is able to fold itself up in its shell in such a manner as to be enveloped all round. The head is provided with two very long conical tentacles, each having a very large eye, in which a pupil and iris can be distinguished. The foot is oval, elongate, and without operculum, and is well represented in Cypræa tigris (Fig. 247) . The cowries are found at a little distance from the shore, generally in clefts of the rocky bottoms ”

“ They founded their belief on the fact that some individuals of the same species were larger than others. This, however, is due simply to individual variation.
The beautiful colors so much admired are deposited by the reflected mantle and their variety is almost endless. Some are perfectly plain, white, brownish, yellowish or orange, others are spotted with red, white, brown, drab or black, and still others are variously banded. The eyed-cowry (Cypraea argus) has large, dark brown spots on a lighter background.
In form and sculpture the Cowries present a rather wide range of variation. ”

“ A small genus separated from Balanus, on account of the cup-shaped base, but re-united by Sowerby, who shews, in his Genera of Shells, that this is a merely accidental circumstance, resulting from the situations in which the shells acquire their growth. If, for instance, the Balanus be attached to a flat surface, in an open situation, the base will be short and flat; if it be placed in a hollow among other growing substances, it will be lengthened out in order that the aperture of the shell may be even with the outer surface of the surrounding mass ”

“ It is but a shell-fish truly; but the great Cuvier thought it remarkable enough to devote to its anatomy elaborate descriptions and drawings, which have done more perhaps than any others to illustrate the curious economy of the whole class of bivalve, or double-shelled, mollusca. (Plate II. Fig. 3.)
That red capsicum is the foot of the animal contained in the cockleshell. By its aid it crawls, leaps, and burrows in the sand, where it lies drinking in the salt water through one of its siphons, and discharging it again through the other. ”

“ We may truly say that of all the mollusks, large or small, handsome or ugly, the modest little money cowry surpasses any in point of economical importance.
In the Friendly Islands the orange cowry (Cypraea aurantia) is used as a badge of chieftainship and for a long time specimens were almost priceless because no one but the chief was allowed to wear this ornament. Specimens of this species are frequently seen in collections, with a hole in the back by means of which it was suspended about the neck of the native chief. ”

“ But we must restrict our notice of this division to a few genera, that more space may be devoted to that important class, the Cephalopodous Mollusca.
The Cardium, Venus, and Mussel shells, are familiar examples of the Dimyaria. The conglomerates, now forming in the British Channel, from accumulations of the recent species of Cockle (C. edule) , have been previously noticed; see Lign. 124, p. 386. In the strata of England « 405 » there are upwards of thirty species: the Crag contains several, particularly a large and delicate shell, the Cardium Parkinsoni (Min. Conch. tab. 49) . ”

“ Fossil species occur in the London clay, &c.
AXINUS. J. Sowerby.—Descr. Equivalve, transverse; posterior side very short, rounded, with a long ligament, placed in a furrow, extending along the whole edge; anterior side produced, angulated, truncated, with a flattish lunule near the beaks. The late Mr. James Sowerby, who described this shell in the Mineral Conchology, did not consider his genus as established, not having seen the hinge.
AXIS. The imaginary line, round which the whorls of a spiral shell revolve. The extremities of the axis are pointed out in fig. 379, by the letters, a. a. ”

“ Some of these shellfish live feet below the surface of the sand; some, such as the common cockle, only a fraction of an inch. Apparently even cockles do not come to the surface, except to die. Some instinct seems to urge a shellfish, when sick unto death, to save its fellows from infection by leaving the common shelter. Cockles found on the surface are to be avoided as unhealthy, and, unless they die naturally, are soon killed by the carnivorous shellfish. It does not take one of the whelk family long to bore a hole in the centre of the cockle shell. ”

“ Turbinated, keeled, thin, umbilicated; aperture longer than the spire, entire; columella obliquely truncated; outer lip thin, sharp; epidermis horny, produced into long hairs at the angles of the shell; operculum horny, with the nucleus lateral.—Obs. Although the shells of this genus have something of the shape of Turbo, they are distinguished from that genus at once by the thinness of the shell. They are also known from Buccinum, by the absence of a canal. Only two or three species are known, which belong to the Northern and Arctic Oceans. T. bicarinata, fig. ”