cypraea

Europe, is Italian; _porcellana_ being in that language the name of those univalve shells forming the genus _cypraea_ of the conchologist, which have a high arched back like that of the hog (_porco_, Ital.), and are remarkable for the white, smooth, vitreous glossiness of the surface about the mouth of the shell, and sometimes, as in the common cowry (_Cypraea moneta_), over the whole surface.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 548, May 26, 1832 Various

The roof was high-pitched; the ridge-pole was covered with white shells (_Ovula cypraea_) and projected three or four feet at each end.

The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume I (of 3) The Belief Among the Aborigines of Australia, the Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea and Melanesia James George Frazer 1897

Its name will be preserved in the proverb, 'There is no market wherein the dove with the pouting breast (the _cypraea_) has not traded.'

To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II A Personal Narrative Richard Francis Burton 1855