A peculiar and somewhat rare shell is the Horned Murex (Murex axicornis), found in the Indian Archipelago, whose shell is made up of many curiously fluted spines. The Burnt Murex (Murex adustus), is an inhabitant of the Indian Ocean, Japan and the Philippines, and its name, which signifies burned, is well chosen, for all its spines and frills and most of the shell are black in color and look just as though the shell had been scorched. The aperature is often beautifully tinged with pink or dark red.

A common rock shell found in the Mediterranean Sea as well as on the Atlantic coast of France and Portugal and the Canary Islands, is the Purple Murex (Murex trunculus). This is a light brown, three-banded shell about two inches in length and is famous as having been used by the ancients to obtain their beautiful and rich purple dye. On the Tyrian shore these shells were pounded in caldron-shaped holes in the rocks, and the animals were taken out and squeezed for the dye which they secrete. If the animal of one of our common purpuras, a small shell found along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, be squeezed, it will exude a purple fluid which will stain fabrics a reddish purple. It is probable that much or most of the royal purple of the ancients was obtained from these lowly creatures.

Although the most beautiful shells of this family are supposed to live in the warm, tropical seas of the Indian Ocean, it is nevertheless true that many of the most brightly colored rock shells live in the warm waters of Panama and Mazatlan. The Root Murex (Murex radix) is one of these shells, which attains a length of five inches and weighs several pounds. The shell is white or yellowish-white and the spines and frills are jet black, the two colors producing a peculiar effect. Another beautiful shell from the same locality (Panama) is the Two-colored Murex (Murex bicolor), a shell attaining somewhat larger dimensions than the last. The spines are reduced to mere knobs in this species, there are but a few frills, and only two colors, the shell being greenish-white and the aperture a deep red or pink, plainly showing whence the name, bicolor, two-colored. This shell is collected by thousands at Panama and shipped all over the United States to curiosity stores at summer watering places and other vacation resorts, where they are sold at from a few cents to a dollar each, according to quality.

DESCRIPTION of Plate (from top to bottom ): (First Column) Root Murex; Burnt Murex; Purple Murex; (center column) Apple Murex; Venus Comb; (third column) Branched Murex; Horned Murex; Two-colored Murex.