No. I (IQI7) 



EDIBLE MOLLUSCS 



2C 



ever seen in the markets. The value of the flesh is 12 annas per 



measure. 



In the chank fishery carried on off Rameswaram a small quantity 



of the shells are treated in the same way by Muhammadan divers, 



who saw some of the Tuticorin men treating the shells thus at the 



191 5 fishery and who are now 

 beginning to use the flesh similarly. 

 As yet comparatively few chanks 

 have their flesh extracted at Rames- 

 waram but the practice will prob- 

 ably gradually become general as a 

 taste for the article is acquired. 



The Pattanavars of the Pulicat 

 fishing hamlets occasionally catch 

 chanks in their thuri nets ; the 

 village youngsters are said to be 

 fond of the flesh, eating it after 

 boiling. So few shells are found 

 that the flesh has no market value. 



The operculum (Tamil, iiaganam 

 or navanaiii, ^/rsssnh^ nrrisdssrih) of 

 the chank has considerable value, 

 being in demand for use as a glue 

 in the composition of incense 

 sticks. Large quantities are col- 

 lected from the shells at Tuticorin 

 and Rameswaram and sold at the 

 rate of from Re. i~2-o to Re. 1-6-O 

 per pound. 



At Rameswaram some of the 

 Muhammadan divers make a speci- 

 ality of this work; they go round 

 during the time of counting and 

 gauging the shells, tearing off the 

 opercula of all those that they can 



get permission to handle. They use a pair of home-made flat-nosed 



pliers for the purpose. 



For a description of the Chank and its varied uses see "The 



Sacred Chank of India," constituting Bulletin No. 7 of the Madras 



Fisheries Department (Government Press, Madras, 1915)- 



Fig, 13. —Egg capsule of the 

 Sacred Chank. x |. 



