. The museum of natural history, with introductory essay on the natural history of the primeval world : being a popular account of the structure, habits, and classification of the various departments of the animal kingdom, quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fishes, shells, and insects, including the insects destructive to agriculture . ollectors and amateurs. Some of thevarieties of this shell are exceeding beautiful. Anotherspecies which formerly commanded a high price, is theAdmiral Cone, C ammiralis. In Holland a singlespecimen of this handsome Cone has fetched the largesum of five hundred florin
. The museum of natural history, with introductory essay on the natural history of the primeval world : being a popular account of the structure, habits, and classification of the various departments of the animal kingdom, quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fishes, shells, and insects, including the insects destructive to agriculture . ollectors and amateurs. Some of thevarieties of this shell are exceeding beautiful. Anotherspecies which formerly commanded a high price, is theAdmiral Cone, C ammiralis. In Holland a singlespecimen of this handsome Cone has fetched the largesum of five hundred florins. But perhaps the largestsum given for a single individual shell, is that paid forthe Comts gloria-maris, or the Glory of the sea, nowin the fine collection of Cones in the British beautiful Cone was at one time tlie gem of thecollection of the late Earl of Tatikerville. At the saleof this noblemans museum in 1825, this shell was soldfor the large sum of one hundred guineas! The latelamented Mr. Broderip informed the writer of this,that having vowed he would never give such a largeVol. II. sum as £100 for any shell, and yet being exceedinglydesirous to possess this treasure, laid down before thelate Mr. G. B. Sowerby, who had the sale of the col-lection, £99 19s. 6d. 1 but was refused. It realized Fig. Conus cedo-niilli—a, shell; fc, operculum; c, animal. one hundred guineas ; but the person who became thehappy possessor of the coveted prize, a few yearsafterwards became bankrupt; his collection was broughtto the hammer, and the same shell was then purchasedby Mr. Broderip for £50. Mr. Broderips entire col-lection, some years after that, became the property ofthe nation, and this beautiful Cone, of which it formeda chief gem, is now in the British Museum. We arenot aware that the animals of any of the Cones havebeen anywhere used as food, except in Cliina. Osbeckinforms us, in his Voyage to China, that the animalof the Chinese Cone, Conus Cliinensis, is
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