70 TURBINELLA. 



there is a continual demand for them, many wearing several, 

 both on the legs and arms.* 



In India, China and Siam the chank shell is highly prized, 

 especially a sinistral variety found on the coasts of Tranquebar 

 and .Ceylon, and made use of b}^ the Cingalese in some of their 

 most sacred rites. Such reversed shells are held in special ven- 

 eration in China, where great prices are given for tliem. The}^ 

 are kept in the pagodas by the priests, and are not only employed 

 by them on certain special occasions as the sacred vessels from 

 which they administer medicine to the sick ; but it is in one of these 

 sinistrorsal turbinellas that the consecrated oil is keptAvith which 

 the emperor is anointed at his coronation. These shells are 

 often curiously ornamented with elaborate carvings. The tur- 

 binella is so extensively employed in ornamental manufactures 

 in the East Indies that upwards of four million shells have been 

 exported in a single year from Ceylon to the ports of Calcutta 

 and Madras; these are chiefly employed in making armlets and 

 anklets, which are often highly ornamented and are known by 

 the name of bangles. The mamillary apex of the shell is made 

 into a button or bead; the latter are called krantahs, and neck- 

 laces of these are so commonly worn by the Sei)oys in the East 

 India service as almost to be deemed a regular part of their 

 uniform, t 



T. ovoiDEA, Keiner. PL 19, fig. 4 



Whorls smooth or obsoletely striated ; pinkish white, under a 

 thin, smooth, hornj' epidermis. Length, 4-0 inches. 



BaMa, Coast of Brazil. 



Occurs numerously in the miocene of Santo Domingo, West 

 Indies. 



T. scoLYMUS, Gmelin. PI. 20, fig. 8. 



Yellowish white, under a thin, fibrous, olive epidermis; colu- 

 mella and interior flesh-pink. Length, 8-10 inches. 



Bahia, Brazil; West Indies ? 



The largest species in the genus and one of the largest of uni- 

 valve mollusca. Fine specimens occur in the miocene of Santo 



* Simmonds' Commercial Products of the Sea, 288. 

 t Wilson, Canad. Nat., iii, 400, 1858. 



