44 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



They could not be counterfeited without the actual amount of labor 

 which would make them genuine, the counterfeits would be genuine. It 

 could not be said, as of the American continental currency, '■'■ to counter- 

 feit is death,"" but " to counterfeit is very hard work,^- would be true. 



We see that each shell has been ground on the lower side next the 

 aperture, until the plane surface thus formed, at an angle of from thirty 

 to forty degrees with the axis of the shell, cuts the outer lip, and also 

 cuts through into the cavity of the next whorl. This is a very exact 

 measiure of the work done, and could not be slighted without entirely 

 changing the appearance of the specimen, nor cheapened, except by 

 mechanical processes, of which all were alike ignorant. One man or 

 woman could make a certain number in a day, and no more, and not a 

 very great number. 



That they were estimated by count, and not by length, unless by laying 

 in a row, if used as a currency, seems altogether probable, as they are 

 not adapted for stringing. It is true that a string could be put through, 

 but equally true and apparent that it was not done to any considerable 

 extent, as the thin edge about the hole in the side of the shell would be 

 very easily worn and broken, which does not appear to have happened. 

 Besides it is to be observed that they would not slide upon a string except 

 with much difficulty.* Doubtless it is and was common to string the 

 shells or beads of which the currency was composed, but it was by no 

 means always done, for the cowries are not described as having been per- 

 forated at all, and until recently I had seen no intimation that they 

 were ever so pei'forated, but in the Iowa College Museum at Grinnell I 

 have lately seen a string of cowries, drilled through and strung on a cord. 



I also found there two other kinds ot'warapum or shell ornaments^ 

 One is a string of marine univalves, drilled through above the aperture. 

 The other is a small Natica, and is drilled through and attached to a 

 hoop of wood, forming doubtless a circlet or head band. These were not 

 ground down at all, and the work of preparing them is ten or twenty 

 times less labor than to grind them. 



One other use for these shells suggests itself as possible, viz : as orna- 

 ments being attached to a belt or flat surface of some kind, not by a 

 string (for the effects of a string would, as before remarked, be easily 

 seen), but possibly by some kind of cement. In that case, no indication 

 of the cement is now to be seen, and their use as currency seems the 

 more probable one. If used as ornaments and cemented, it would 

 scarcely seem necessary to grind them all down to just a uniform depth, 

 nor to grind off as much as has been done, or even to grind them at alU 



*In the work by Mr. Rau, alreaily referred to, he gives (Page 69) a description and figure of a 

 marine shell, Strombus pugilig, which is perforated so as to be readily strung upon a cord. 



To drill these shells in a similar manner would be not one-twentieth, perhaps not one-hun- 

 dreth of the labor required to grind them ; they would be strung much more conveniently 

 would slide more freely and would make a much better appearance, being central on the string 

 instead of hanging to one side and irregularly, 33 they would do when ground in this way. 

 Hence, I conclude that these are not so prepared to be used specially as beads, though doubtless 

 they might sometimes be so used. Especially it would seem probable that when buried with the 

 deceased owner, they would be jrfaced upon strings for that purpose. 



