ORNAMENTAL USES OF SHELLS 



ir 



they ground down until little except the \-:iri()us Pacific islands fishhooks are cut 

 mouth remained, in wliich condition from the ear shell (Ilalioiis), knives are 

 they were strung together into neck- made from the r'///v7;r/ and from the pearl 

 laces." clam, and the sinkers that weigh down the 



In the (iahay collection occur a few nets of the Fiji Islanders are ponderous 

 necklaces of CaniJutridus from the Fiji dark cowry shells {(\i/pra'a )iiaun'ti(in(i). 

 Islands, sonu> of which hnxv l)ccn hril- while the conunon tiger cow'ry {Cyprcjua 

 liantly dyed; and shells appear in dress tigris) cut in two, loaded with a stone, 

 also as bracelets and l)angles, head and coml)ined with lively-colored olives 

 wreaths, hllcts, coronets, helts, and nose (Oliva), attracts the cuttle-fish in the 

 and ear drops; while from South Amer- waters of these islands. Drinking cups 

 ica come land and fresh-water shells as and spoons can he readily formed from 

 adornments for the cloaks of the women. the Ci/inlxts and Mclo.s, and in West 

 Not only were the shells themselves de- Africa the big Achat ina serves the same 

 voted to this service, but the animal's ]:)urpose. Conclui, the Latin word from 

 colored operculum which closed the which the science derives its name, in its 

 mouth of the shell in different kinds of secondary meaning was indeed applied 

 Turbo, was also attractively utilized. to a vessel for oil, unguents, or even to 



In more ]>rosaic and more useful ways a salt-cellar, as Horace sings, Fundc 

 she'lls ha\'e aided sa\age culture. In (■(iiMtrihu.s, uncjucuia de conchis; while as 



trumpets, the resonant interiors of 

 shells yield the summoning or the 

 challenging notes " that call to dinner 

 or to war's alarms." Several large 

 shells, among them the great chank 

 shell {TurhiufUa pyrum), the two 

 large tritons (T. tritonis and T. vari- 

 (ihili.s), the helmet (Cassis cornuta) 

 and the frog snail {Ranella lampas), 

 all \igorously treated, meet both 

 these requirements. In this digres- 

 sion from their ornamental values it is 

 interesting to note that the thin, di- 

 aphanous, flat \'ahe of the glass oyster 

 ( Placuna placenta) has been long in 

 use in China for window panes, and 

 that the heavy Turhinella — which is 

 a sacred shell in India — has formed 

 I an oil lamp in Hindu temples. 

 ^ The shell flowers — roses and tulips 



£ — which are seen in the South Ken- 

 sington Museum in London, illustrate 



In the fire-walk of the Tahitiau Archipelago the cele- an UUUattiral USe of tllC Omamcntal 

 brants walk over hot stones to demonstrate the protect- iv e i 11 ixi 1 ii 1 !• 



in., „^w„r «f fKo „^^ I T- -v • . I. • -ru qualitv of shells, although the deh- 



ing power 01 the goddess 1 e-Tua-nui-o-tahu-rai. The 1 - ' e> 



American Museum's life-size model of a fire-walker Cacics of Color for a moment blind the 



represents him bearing a branch of I he sacred ti and .^+j.iu 1 s j. 4. i^i 



„„^ •„„ „ i,„ ji f .J r , 1 .• , 1 ; u ,„ / 7 eve to the hardness of texture and the 



wearmg a headdress ot delicately tinted shells (Partula 



itebe) ■ conventionalized cruditv of form. In 



