THE ECONOMIC USES OF SHELLS. 471 



particular species is still found. At the same time snails are eaten in England, 

 and only lately I met an old man in Somersetshire collecting them {Helix 

 aspersa) with an iron hook on the end of a stick from the crevices in old walls, 

 who informed me that he made his living by it as they were in great demand 

 among the glass-blowers of Bristol, who looked upon them as a great specific for 

 the cure of the lung diseases that many of them suffer from. In this connec- 

 tion Rev. A. H. Cooke gives various instances in different parts of the British 

 Isles of the firm belief still existing among the lower classes in the curative 

 powers of young slugs in consumptive cases when eaten — sometimes alive ! 



Of other molluscs that are extensively eaten in certain parts of the world, 

 I must mention the cuttlefish family {Cephalopoda). Regarding them as 

 food Dr. Cooke writes : " Dried Cephalopods are a favourite Chinese dish, and 

 are regularly exported to San Francisco, where the Chinese make them into 

 soup." In this connection, too, I quote Dr. Watt, who wrote (1902) : " Although 

 there is every reason to believe that a large trade might be organised in Indian 

 cuttlefish, the industry would appear to be entirely neglected." He then goes 

 on to refer to an account of the Chinese fisheries that appeared in the Journal 

 of the Society of Chemical Industries (Vol. VIII, p. 580). To what extent 

 they are eaten on the West Coast of India, I have failed to obtain information, 

 but one sees them occasionally in the Bombay Market. 



On this coast, shells are very extensively burned for making lime for building 

 and other purposes. This is undoubtedly a really important industry, but I 

 have been unable to obtain any details that go further than the references 

 to it in the Bombay Gazetteer, so must content myself to the following extracts 

 therefrom : — 



" At Kurla a considerable quantity of shell lime is made by burning cockle 

 shells found in the neighbouring creeks. This lime is what is termed ' fat,' 

 and is not suitable for building work. It is chiefly used for white-washing." 



" The lime in general use is made from calcined cockle shells. There is 

 an inexhaustible quarry of these shells in the bed of the Ratnagiri creek near 

 the village of Juva, about two miles from Ratnagiri. This quarry supplies the 

 whole district with lime, which in Ratnagiri costs Rs. 12 to 15 the hundred cubic 

 feet. Shell lime possesses little cementing properties and only answers when 

 used with laterite stone. " f 



On the' Bengal coast the shells of Telescopium fuscum and Pyrazus palustris, 

 both estuarine species, are burnt for lime, but these do not occur in sufficient 

 quantities on this side for the purpose. Inland, certain fresh-water shells are 

 utilised for a similar purpose to some extent. 



In conclusion, I shall now only refer to two peculiar, but interesting, uses to 

 which cowries are put. A large cowrie has for long been recognised as the 

 best of all known things to put into the toe of a sock or stocking when it 

 becomes necessary to darn them, and is commonly used for this purpose. 



* Bombay Gazetteer, Thana, XIII, pt, 1, p. 21 (1882). 

 f Bombay Gazetteer, Ratnagiri, Vol. X, p. 31. 



