Uses of Shells. 13 
of hard shell. Lister relates that the inhabitants 
of Nicaragua, in South America, fasten a shell, 
called the Ostrea virginica, to a handle of wood, and 
use it as a spade. In North America the natives 
use a blue and white belt composed of shells, called 
the Venus mercenaria, as a symbol of peace and 
unity, and there, too, the gorget of the chieftain’s 
war-dress is composed of the pearl-bearing mussel, 
called by naturalists Mytilus margaritiferus. Mary 
African tribes use the Murex tritonis as a military 
horn, and a rare variety of this shell, which has the 
volutions reversed, is held sacred, and used only by 
the priests. Among the Friendly Islanders the 
Orange Cowry is a symbol of the highest dignity. 
The Money Cowry (Cyprceea moneta) forms the cur- 
rent coin of many nations of Africa; and a certain 
number of these shells strung together, are con- 
sidered by the slave-hunting chiefs as an equivalent 
for so many black-skinned brothers, whom they sell 
into hopeless bondage. 
Among nations, too, in a high state of civiliza- 
tion, shells are often used for economical, as well as 
ornamental purposes. ‘T'o say nothing of mother- 
of-pearl, which is converted into so many articles, 
useful as well as pretty, scallop, or oyster shells, 
are frequently employed as scoops by druggists, 
*) 
a“ 
