ite SAGKE PD sChANK 
Ore ii 
BY; 
JAMES HORNELL. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
Until the present time no monographic account nas 
been attempted of the Sacred Chank or Conch (7 7767- 
nella pyrum, Linn.) in its intricate and intimate relation- 
ship to almost every phase of Hindu life ; scanty too are 
the casual references scattered through the immense 
mass of literature that attempts to chronicle and explain 
the growth of present-day Indian customs. The collec- 
tion and co-ordination of the material now presented to 
the reader has been a task of no light character and I 
am deeply conscious of the incompleteness ofthe whole, 
of the many gaps I am unable to fill up and of how inade- 
quate is my scholarship to deal with certain aspects of 
the subject in a really satisfactory manner. However 
we are well aware how often the foolhardy step in where 
angels fear to tread and as I have occasionally seen 
eminently successful results attend on such precipitate 
recklessness I trust that at least a modicum of success 
may crown the attempt [ make in the following pages to 
open up a by-path in the life and history of the Indian 
world. Almost every day some new fact comes to my 
knowledge emphasizing the large place in the ordinary 
life of the people taken by this shell, but as other 
enquiries call for my attention, with some reluctance I 
feel compelled to cry a halt and to present the material 
already collected in the best form Il am able to cast it, 
leaving for others the task of rounding the corners and 
filling in interstices. 
Several interesting problems remain partly or wholly 
unsolved. Among others may be mentioned (a) the 
reasons for the cessation and disappearance of the chank 
bangle industry from the South of India, the Deccan, 
