Fig. 271. Cassis glauca (Linnæus).
Fig. 272. Cassis rufa (Linnæus).
Fig. 273. Cassis canaliculata (Brugières).
In the casque, Cassis, the shell is oval, convex, and the spiral of considerable height. The longitudinal opening narrow, terminating in front in a short channel, which becomes suddenly erect towards the back of the shell, as in Cassis glauca (Fig. 271), a fine shell from the Moluccas. The columella is folded or toothed transversely, as in Fig. 272 (Cassis rufa); the right edge thick, furnished with a sort of pad externally, and dentate within. This shell is from the Indian Ocean, and is of a fine purple colour, varied with black above; the edges of the opening being of a coral red colour, the teeth alone being white.
Figs. 274 and 275. Cassis Madagascariensis (Lamarck).
The head of the animal is large and thick, furnished with two conical elongated tentacles, at the base of which are the eyes. The mantle is ranged outside the shell, falling back upon the edges of the opening, and terminating at its anterior extremity in a long cylindrical channel, cloven in front, and passing by a hollow at the base into the bronchial cavity. The foot is large, and furnished with a horny operculum.
