. West coast shells. A familiar description of the marine, fresh water, and land mollusks of United States, found west of the Rocky Mountains ... cerning which there will be differing opinions,and which will be variously classed, even by thought-ful observers—still, I believe the great forms of life,the true species, exist unchanged, and can vary onlywithin fixed and narrow limits, unless it be by theexpress act of creative power. Next on our list comes a small genus of mollusks,which are almost exclusively confined to the westcoast of America. A good representation of one ofthese shells is sh
. West coast shells. A familiar description of the marine, fresh water, and land mollusks of United States, found west of the Rocky Mountains ... cerning which there will be differing opinions,and which will be variously classed, even by thought-ful observers—still, I believe the great forms of life,the true species, exist unchanged, and can vary onlywithin fixed and narrow limits, unless it be by theexpress act of creative power. Next on our list comes a small genus of mollusks,which are almost exclusively confined to the westcoast of America. A good representation of one ofthese shells is shown in Fig. 9, which illustrates thecommon Unicorn shell, Monoceros lapilloides, Conr.,Mo-nos-e-ros lap-il-loi-des. The Greek name, Mo-noceros, is exactly translated by our wordUnicorn, which is derived from theLatin, and both of them mean specific name, lapilloides, means, re-sembling a pebble. The little horn nearthe base of the outer lip is the key to thegeneric name, and the rounded, granite-Fis- 9- like appearance of the shell explains thesecond, or specific name. It is a pretty little shell, about an inch in length,. UNICORN SHELLS. 29 with a spire of four whorls, a rather small aperture,within which are several knobs or teeth. The outside is marked by fine spiral grooves, crossedby lines of growth ; and the colors, white and brown,are broken up into little checks, giving it a grayishappearance. I have found many of these molluskson the rocks, near the upper tide-mark. In such anexposed position they are liable to receive severeknocks, as the the waves come dashing in, and iftheir shells were light and thin, like some of thosewhich we shall soon have occasion to examine, theywould quickly be broken to pieces. Shore shells areusually strong and solid ones. Whenever you exam-ine a shell, please notice such points, and try to findout how it is adapted to its surroundings. In thisway, shell gathering becomes something more than amere pastime, for it brings u
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectmollusks, bookyear188
