. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. THE MITUE SMELLS. 193. beak. TIk^ lingual teeth of seeiu well fitted fen- thus boring tiu-ough the shells of other ^Molluscs on which all these sea snails are predatory* The dye used in tlie nuinufactnre of the ceielu-ated " Tyrian purple" of the ancients was obtained from certain species of Mnrex. The small shells were bruised in mortars, and the animals of the larger ones were taken out. Heaps of broken shells of Mwrex truucnlus and cauldron- .sliaiied hollows in the rooks may still be seen on the Tyrian shore. (Wilde.
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. THE MITUE SMELLS. 193. beak. TIk^ lingual teeth of seeiu well fitted fen- thus boring tiu-ough the shells of other ^Molluscs on which all these sea snails are predatory* The dye used in tlie nuinufactnre of the ceielu-ated " Tyrian purple" of the ancients was obtained from certain species of Mnrex. The small shells were bruised in mortars, and the animals of the larger ones were taken out. Heaps of broken shells of Mwrex truucnlus and cauldron- .sliaiied hollows in the rooks may still be seen on the Tyrian shore. (Wilde.) M. Bobliiye noticed that on the coast of the Morea there is similar e\idence of the employment of Murex hranda)~is for the same purpose. One hundred and eighty living species have been noticed ; they are of world wide distribution. The Murieidm not only possess the power of forming, but also of dissolving parts of their shells, and they use it in removing those external spines which, in the onward and continuous growth of the shell, would interfere with the comfort and convenience of the animal. ColamheUa is the name given to a genus of small but preitily-marked shells, living in shallow water, on sandy flats, or congregating on stones, having a long nairow aperture, a thick outer lip, dentated within, the inner lip being crenulated and the operculum vei-y small. About 200 species have been described, all being sub-tropical and widely distributed. The Columhella mercatoria of the West Indies was formerly used by the natives as " wampum " for barter or exchange. The genus Fasciolaria (from fasciola, a band) is an elegantly-formed shell, with round or angular whorls (like a Fusus in shape), having bands of colour rumiing down its sides ; the inner lip has several oblique folds on it. The operculum is claw-shaped. Like the preceduig genus, some species of Fasciolaria attain a very large size. Tlie Fasciolaria gigaiitea of the South Seas attains a length of nearly two f
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