CHAPTER I 



Man and Mollusks 



Seashells and man were closely associated even before the dawn of civiliza- 

 tion when primitive man gathered snails, oysters, and other kinds of mollusks 

 along the seashore for food, implements, ornaments, and money. The many 

 kitchen-middens and burial sites in nearly every comer of the world reveal 

 the great extent to which early peoples were dependent upon mollusks. On 

 some coral islands, as, for instance, Barbados, where there was no available 

 stone, nearly all domestic utensils, including knives and axes, were made from 

 seashells. As civilization became more complex, specialization in the use of 

 mollusks increased. From them were obtained dyes, inks, textiles and win- 

 dowpanes. In the Mediterranean region there was a long period when an 

 entire commercial empire owed its origin and continued success to the Tyrian 

 purple obtained from a seashell. Later, in Roman times, the farming of 

 oysters and edible snails became a major enterprise. 



Today the uses of moUuscan shells are legion. Jewelers, artists and but- 

 ton manufacturers; biologists, geologists and archaeologists; bird and aquarium 

 dealers; all daily use mollusks or their products. In recent years there has 

 flourished m Florida a five-million-dollar-a-year seashell industry. Through- 

 out the country, the hobby of shell collecting is enjoyed by countless thou- 

 sands, and it now rivals the popularity of coin collecting. Local and federal 

 agencies arc investing millions in research directed toward the more efficient 

 cultivation and utilization of commercially important mollusks. 



From another standpoint of perhaps even greater importance mollusks 

 have influenced the activities and welfare of man. Some are extremely de- 

 structive to wooden structures in the sea, and others are a serious menace to 

 health, mostly as intermediate hosts to dangerous parasites or as carriers of 



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