COWRY, Corcea, a genus of gasteropodous mollusks of the order pectinibranchiata —the type of a family, cyprceidee, to all of which the name C. is often extended—having the margin of the mantle prolonged into a siphon, by which water is conveyed into the gill chamber, and a spiral convoluted shell, the spire visible in the young. but entirely concealed in the adult, and the outer lip then thickened and bent in. The aperture extends the whole length of the shell. The shells, called porcelain shells by the French and Germans, arc almost entirely calcareous in their composition, are richly enameled, and often very beautiful. They are most abundant and attain their largest size in the seas of warm Only a few very small species are found on the British coasts. Seine of the species are much prized by collectors of shells. The money C. (C. moneta) is of commercial interest, for its general use as a substitute for coin in many parts of Asia and Africa. It is not of great beauty, is yellow or white, often with a yellow
ring, about an inch long, and nearly as broad as long. It is founoLon the Indian coasts, and in particular abundance on those of the Maldive islands, anti is one of their prin cipal exports. In Bengal, 3,200 cowries are reckoned equal to a rupee,•so that a C. is about equal in value to one thirty-sixth of a farthing. Yet cowries to the value of 200,000 rupees are said to have been at one time imported annually into Bengal. Many tons of cowries are annually imported into Britain, to be used in trade with the w. of Africa, and this importation began when it was in the slave•trade that they were employed.—To the family cyprceidce belong the shells called poached eggs (orulutn), the wearer's shuttle shell (orulum volza), remarkable for its prolongation at both ends, etc. Fossils of this family arc numerous in some strata, as in the bagshot beds. (q.v.).