﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  119 
  

  

  theniiJdle 
  fini^er 
  to 
  the 
  elbow 
  is 
  valued 
  at 
  twenty-five 
  cents. 
  A 
  section 
  of 
  

   bone, 
  very 
  white 
  and 
  polished, 
  about 
  two 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  inches 
  long, 
  is 
  sometimes 
  

   strung 
  on 
  the 
  string, 
  and 
  rates 
  at 
  a 
  ' 
  bit.' 
  They 
  always 
  undervalue 
  articles 
  

   which 
  they 
  procure 
  from 
  Americans. 
  For 
  instance, 
  goods 
  which 
  cost 
  them 
  at 
  

   the 
  store 
  $5, 
  they 
  sell 
  among 
  themselves 
  for 
  $3."* 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  no 
  authentic 
  data 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  shell-money, 
  properly 
  

   so-called, 
  among 
  the 
  California 
  Indians, 
  and 
  those 
  farther 
  north, 
  was 
  graduated 
  

   by 
  the 
  color, 
  or 
  whether 
  they 
  generally 
  used 
  other 
  than 
  the 
  It 
  ya-qua 
  or 
  allUochick 
  

   {Dent 
  aha), 
  which 
  are 
  white 
  and 
  have 
  a 
  shining 
  surface; 
  for 
  though, 
  as 
  above, 
  

   " 
  periwinkles 
  " 
  and 
  " 
  fancy 
  marine-shells 
  " 
  are 
  mentioned 
  as 
  used 
  in 
  ti-ade, 
  these 
  

   may 
  have 
  been 
  regarded 
  more 
  as 
  articles 
  of 
  ornamentation, 
  and 
  esteemed 
  among 
  

   the 
  interior 
  Indians 
  particularly 
  as 
  precious, 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  diamonds 
  and 
  fine 
  

   jewelry 
  are 
  among 
  civilized 
  people. 
  In 
  this 
  view, 
  the 
  interior 
  Indians 
  of 
  California 
  

   are 
  probably 
  not 
  unlike 
  the 
  more 
  southern 
  Indians 
  of 
  New 
  Mexico, 
  for 
  a 
  friend 
  

   of 
  ours 
  (Dr. 
  Edward 
  Palmer 
  of 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution) 
  informed 
  us 
  a 
  few 
  

   years 
  ago, 
  that 
  while 
  traveling 
  in 
  that 
  territory 
  he 
  was 
  witness 
  to 
  a 
  trade 
  where- 
  

   in 
  a 
  horse 
  was 
  purchased 
  of 
  one 
  Indian 
  by 
  another, 
  the 
  price 
  paid 
  being 
  a 
  single 
  

   specimen 
  of 
  the 
  pearly 
  ear-shell 
  [Haliotis 
  rufescens), 
  or 
  common 
  California 
  red- 
  

   back 
  abalone 
  or 
  aulon. 
  

  

  As 
  to 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  tusk-shells 
  among 
  the 
  California 
  Indians, 
  the 
  method 
  

   of 
  reckoning 
  the 
  same 
  is 
  by 
  measuring 
  the 
  shells 
  on 
  the 
  finger-joints, 
  the 
  

   longest 
  being 
  worth 
  the 
  most. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  been 
  informed 
  that 
  the 
  Indians 
  who 
  formerly 
  resided 
  in 
  the 
  neigh- 
  

   borhood 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  Russian 
  settlement 
  of 
  Bodega, 
  used 
  pieces 
  of 
  a 
  (bivalve) 
  

   clam-shell 
  (Stixidomus 
  a7-atus-f) 
  for 
  money, 
  but 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  unable 
  to 
  

   obtain 
  a 
  specimen, 
  or 
  to 
  verify 
  the 
  statement. 
  Recently, 
  our 
  friend 
  Mr. 
  

   Harford, 
  of 
  the 
  Coast 
  Survey, 
  has 
  discovered 
  in 
  some 
  Indian 
  graves, 
  on 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  islands 
  off 
  the 
  southerly 
  coast 
  of 
  this 
  State, 
  beads, 
  or 
  money, 
  

   of 
  a 
  different 
  character 
  from 
  any 
  heretofore 
  observed. 
  These 
  were 
  made 
  

   by 
  grinding 
  off 
  the 
  spire 
  and 
  lowerportion 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  univalve 
  shell 
  (0/iwZ/a 
  

   bipUcata, 
  Shy. 
  ,Fldtey 
  I, 
  Fig. 
  3), 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  form 
  small, 
  flat, 
  button-shaped 
  disks 
  

   with 
  a 
  single 
  central 
  hole. 
  These 
  much 
  resemble 
  in 
  form 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  wampum 
  

   of 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  tribes. 
  Another 
  variety 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  places 
  by 
  

   the 
  gentleman 
  named, 
  which 
  was 
  made 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  key-hole 
  limpet-shell 
  

   {Lucapina 
  crenutaf 
  a, 
  Shy., 
  Plate 
  VI, 
  Fig. 
  6), 
  of 
  much 
  larger 
  size 
  than 
  that 
  first 
  

   mentioned. 
  So 
  far, 
  however,as 
  we 
  have 
  investigated, 
  these 
  last 
  described 
  forms 
  

   of 
  shell-money 
  are 
  not 
  in 
  use 
  among 
  the 
  California 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  day. 
  

   Plate 
  YI, 
  Figures 
  6^ 
  and 
  6^ 
  represent 
  beads 
  or 
  money 
  made 
  from 
  Lucapina. 
  

  

  The 
  use 
  of 
  shells 
  for 
  money 
  is 
  not 
  peculiar 
  to 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  North 
  America. 
  

   The 
  well-known 
  and 
  exceedingly 
  common 
  money 
  coitri/ 
  (C(/pr(ra 
  ??2one/a, 
  Plate 
  

   VI, 
  Figs. 
  5, 
  and 
  5^) 
  or 
  "prop-shell," 
  an 
  inhabitant 
  of 
  the 
  Indo- 
  Pacific 
  waters, 
  "is 
  

   used 
  as 
  money 
  in 
  Hindostan 
  and 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  Africa. 
  ... 
  Many 
  tons 
  are 
  

  

  imported 
  to 
  Great 
  Britain 
  and. 
  . 
  . 
  .exported 
  for 
  barter 
  with 
  the 
  native 
  

  

  tribes 
  of 
  western 
  Africa." 
  J 
  

  

  * 
  Overland 
  Monthly, 
  vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  108. 
  t 
  S. 
  aratus-|-S. 
  gracilis, 
  Gld. 
  

  

  tBaird's 
  Dictionary 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  p. 
  193. 
  

  

  