The Auger or steeple shells, belonging to the family Terebridae, have long been objects of interest not only to the naturalist but to the layman who places them in his house as ornaments. There are about two hundred species which are found in many parts of the world, although chiefly confined to tropical seas. The shells are very long and are composed of many tightly wound whorls, which are smooth in some species and longitudinally ribbed in others. They vary also in color, being yellowish, grayish or brownish, and many species are spotted with red or white. A group of handsome mollusks live in the tropics whose shells have been named Mitra by the naturalist Lamarck from their fancied resemblance to the Pope’s miter. The shells are fusiform, very thick and heavy and beautifully ornamented with various colors. The surface of the shells of some species is smooth, others granulose and not a few spirally lined and longitudinally ribbed, while the columella is marked by several heavy plaits or folds. There are about two hundred species of this genus, living in all parts of the world but being more numerous in tropical regions. The Philippine Islands seem to be the metropolis of this mollusk, as of others, and their shores fairly teem with the graceful creatures. Some of them live among the coral reefs, concealing themselves in holes or among the sea weeds or under stones. Others live on the sandy or muddy beaches in which they bury themselves when the tide recedes. The earlier naturalists were fond of applying significant names to the shells which they described and the Mitras have received their share. Thus we have the episcopal miter, having a white shell with brilliant red spots and flame; the papal miter, with a brown-spotted white shell; the pontifical miter, with a red-spotted shell and a coronated spire, and lastly the cardinal’s miter. These four species might be called the ecclesiastical quartette.