116 THE INDIAN CHANK SHELL. 



a religious significance and value which render it essential to the 

 prevalence of other devotions. Vishnu, the chief of the triad of 

 Brahma, always appears with the sacred chank shell in his hand, 

 and unless adorations are paid first to this symbol, all offerings are 

 supposed to be rejected and worthless. The Hindoos entertain a 

 belief in a general deluge, not very dissimilar to that described in 

 the Mosaic record ; and Vishnu, in one of his innumerable incar- 

 nations, assumed the form of a fish or a tortoise for the purpose of 

 preserving the earth from destruction and restoring its beauty. In 

 this renovation — known as the Lotus creation — Vishnu is repre- 

 sented as seated with imperturbable gravity upon the expanded 

 petals of the lotus lily, emerging from the depths and bearing the 

 sacred chank shell. In some old Indian paintings the shell is 

 depicted with wings and surmounted by an open flower, while the 

 other hand of the Deity con tains the wheel, the symbol of the universe. 



As the worshippers of Brahma are spread over large portions of 

 India and China, extending into Thibet and Tartary, we find the 

 chank shell regarded with superstitious reverence wherever Vishnu 

 or his delegated power appears in the eastern world. The shell is 

 converted into a wind instrument and sounded in the temples 

 upon all occasions of ceremony. It is also used as an oil-vessel, 

 or suspended as a lamp near the shrine of their gods. In this 

 case it is usually carved with elaborate designs in the highest style 

 of eastern art. 



Upon the coasts of Tranquebar and Ceylon a sinistral variety 

 is occasionally discovered, for which great prices have been 

 obtained. Very few of the temples possess this rarity, which has 

 been purchased with its own weight in gold. In China, it is said, 

 the priests keep in this precious receptacle the consecrated oil with 

 which the Emperor is anointed, and that the administration of 

 medicine to the sick from the spout of this rare Turbinella will 

 restore the patient to health when all other remedies have failed 

 and recovery past hope. The discoverer of a reversed chank shell 

 is considered as a mortal favoured above his fellows by the 

 divinity whom millions adore. Reversed shells are not unfre- 

 quentiy discovered in some of the common species of the Mol- 

 lusca, but some few genera exhibit this peculiarity with extreme 

 seldomness. The left-handed arrangement among the chanks 



