COWRIES.
Of Cowries we have already spoken in our chapter on the Uses of Shells, they are among the commonest of our testaceous ornaments, and are remarkable, especially the foreign kinds, for richness and diversity of colour, and the high polish which they bear. The native species are small plain shells, commonly called Pigs, from some real or fancied resemblance which they bear to the swine; they are pretty little white-ribbed shells, and are tolerably plentiful on various parts of the British coasts. There are three kinds, namely, the Louse Pig, or Nun Cowry, the Flesh-coloured, and European Pig Cowries. The first of these is of a pale reddish colour, with six square black spots on the back; the second is a beautiful rose tint; and the third is ash-coloured or pinkish, with three black dots, and a white streak down the back. The Money Cowry, (Cypræa moneta,) used as current coin in many parts of India, as well as on the coast of Guinea, is a yellow and white shell, with a single band of the former colour; it is small of size, and is sometimes called the Trussed Chicken, for the same reason as the term Pigs is applied to its British relatives. These Cowries are obtained principally about the Phillippine Islands, the Maldive Islands, and the coast of Congo, where, after high tides, the women collect them in baskets mixed with sand, from which they are afterwards separated and cleaned, when they are ready for the market.
They are only useful as coin so long as they remain unbroken. The value of a single shell is very small, as the following table will shew:—Four Cowries make one gunder; twenty Gunders one punn; four Punns one anna; four Annas one cahaun; and four Cahauns one rupee. The value of the latter coin is equal to two shillings and threepence, English money, and this would be exchangeable for five thousand one hundred and twenty Cowries; so that it would never do to pay large sums in this kind of coin: a waggon would be required to convey a few pounds with. In this country the Money Cowries are frequently used as markers or counters in social games; they are generally white, in shape rather broad and flat, being much spread out round the edges, which are slightly puckered, like frills. Here are two figures of the shell, exhibiting the back and front view.
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 Citron and Dwarf Rich-mouthed variety, from the Mauritius. 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 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 back of this shell is much elevated and rounded; it is smooth and white; the inside is orange brown. Some of the Poached-egg group are of a more slender and angular shape, as, for instance, that called the Gibbous, (O. Gibbosa;) the moon when more than half-full, is called gibbous, that is rounded unequally, as this shell.
Few shells undergo greater changes, both of shape and colour, during the process of growth, than the Cowries, which are called in France Porcelaines, on account of their high polish and brilliant hues; a single species in different stages of development, might well be, and often is, taken for distinct shells. Much might be said about the Mollusks which inhabit them, but our present subject has rather to do with their outer covering than their internal structure. 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; of this a representation will be found on [Plate VII], Fig. 5. This is brought from China.
BIVALVES.
Acephalous Mollusks, with Bivalve Shells, is the name given by modern naturalists to the class of animals of which we have now to speak; the only one of these terms which will require explanation is the first; it comes from the Greek, and means headless, so an Acephalan is a molluscous animal without a head, as