﻿120 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  Reeve 
  mentions 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  Conchologia 
  Sij<!iemalica, 
  that 
  

   " 
  a 
  gentleman 
  resiJing 
  at 
  Cuttack, 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  paid 
  for 
  the 
  erection 
  of 
  his 
  

   bungalow 
  entirely 
  in 
  these 
  cowries 
  (C. 
  moneta). 
  The 
  building 
  cost 
  him 
  about 
  

   4,000 
  7-iipees 
  sicca 
  (£400 
  sterling), 
  and, 
  as 
  sixty-four 
  of 
  these 
  shells 
  are 
  equiva- 
  

   lent 
  ill 
  value 
  to 
  one 
  pice, 
  and 
  sixty-four 
  pee 
  to 
  a 
  rupee 
  sicca, 
  he 
  paid 
  for 
  it 
  with 
  

   over 
  16.000,000 
  of 
  these 
  shells." 
  

  

  Though 
  the 
  number 
  above 
  mentioned 
  is 
  very 
  large, 
  the 
  prop-shell 
  is 
  an 
  ex- 
  

   ceedingly 
  abundant 
  form. 
  We 
  have 
  received 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  box 
  from 
  the 
  East 
  

   Indies 
  not 
  less 
  than 
  10,000 
  specimens 
  at 
  one 
  time. 
  " 
  In 
  the 
  year 
  1848, 
  sixty 
  

   tons 
  wore 
  imported 
  into 
  Liverpool, 
  and 
  in 
  1849, 
  nearly 
  three 
  hundred 
  tons 
  were 
  

   brought 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  port." 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  extract 
  from 
  a 
  paper 
  by 
  Prof. 
  E. 
  S. 
  Holden, 
  on 
  Early 
  Hindoo 
  

   Ma/hematics* 
  justifies 
  the 
  inference 
  that 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  Cyprcca 
  moneta 
  for 
  

   money 
  has 
  a 
  very 
  considerable 
  antiquity, 
  and 
  quite 
  likely 
  extends 
  back 
  to 
  a 
  period 
  

   many 
  centuries 
  earlier 
  than 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  the 
  treatise.f 
  "The 
  treatise 
  continues 
  rap- 
  

   dly 
  through 
  the 
  usual 
  rules, 
  but 
  pauses 
  at 
  the 
  reduction 
  of 
  fractions 
  to 
  hold 
  up 
  the 
  

   avaricious 
  man 
  to 
  scorn 
  : 
  ' 
  The 
  quarter 
  of 
  a 
  sixteenth 
  of 
  the 
  fifth 
  of 
  three-quarters 
  

   of 
  two-thirds 
  of 
  a 
  moiety 
  of 
  a 
  dramma 
  was 
  given 
  to 
  a 
  beggar 
  by 
  a 
  person 
  from 
  

   whom 
  he 
  asked 
  alms 
  ; 
  tell 
  me 
  how 
  many 
  cowry 
  shells 
  the 
  miser 
  gave, 
  if 
  thou 
  be 
  

   conversant 
  in 
  arithmetic 
  with 
  the 
  reduction 
  termed 
  subdivision 
  of 
  fractions.' 
  " 
  

   These 
  shells 
  are 
  also 
  known 
  as 
  " 
  Guinea 
  money," 
  and, 
  it 
  is 
  said, 
  have 
  been 
  used 
  

   as 
  a 
  financial 
  medium 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  African 
  slave-trade. 
  Doubtless 
  

   many 
  a 
  poor 
  negro 
  has 
  been 
  sold, 
  and 
  has 
  lost 
  his 
  liberty, 
  for 
  a 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  

   number 
  of 
  these 
  shells. 
  

  

  Another 
  species 
  of 
  coury 
  of 
  small 
  size, 
  and 
  which 
  inhabits 
  the 
  Indo- 
  Pacific 
  

   province, 
  called 
  the 
  " 
  ringed 
  cowry 
  " 
  [Cyprcea 
  annului), 
  the 
  back 
  or 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  

   shell 
  being 
  ornamented 
  with 
  an 
  orange-colored 
  ring, 
  " 
  is 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  

   islanders 
  to 
  adorn 
  their 
  dress, 
  to 
  weight 
  their 
  fishing-nets, 
  and 
  for 
  barter. 
  Spec- 
  

   imens 
  of 
  it 
  were 
  found 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Layard 
  in 
  the 
  ruins 
  of 
  Nimroud." 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  the 
  relation 
  of 
  a 
  recent 
  voyage, 
  transactions 
  are 
  performed 
  in 
  

   Soudan 
  by 
  barter, 
  or 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  small 
  shells 
  picked 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  Niger, 
  which 
  

   are 
  called 
  oudaas 
  or 
  woodahs. 
  J 
  

  

  It 
  will 
  be 
  seen, 
  therefore, 
  that 
  shells 
  have 
  been 
  and 
  are 
  still 
  used 
  as 
  money 
  by 
  

   portions 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  race, 
  but 
  to 
  an 
  extent 
  much 
  less 
  than 
  formerly. 
  It 
  would 
  

   be 
  quite 
  difficult 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  any 
  other 
  natural 
  production 
  which 
  is 
  more 
  ap- 
  

   propriate, 
  when 
  size, 
  shape 
  and 
  substance 
  are 
  considered. 
  

  

  * 
  Popular 
  Science 
  Monthly, 
  July, 
  1873, 
  p. 
  337. 
  

  

  t 
  " 
  This 
  treatise, 
  the 
  Lilivati 
  of 
  Bhascara 
  Acharya, 
  is 
  supposf 
  d 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  compilation 
  , 
  

   and 
  there 
  are 
  reasons 
  for 
  believing 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  it 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  written 
  about 
  a. 
  d. 
  628. 
  How- 
  

   ever 
  this 
  may 
  be, 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  greatest 
  interest, 
  and 
  its 
  date 
  is 
  sufficiently 
  remote 
  to 
  give 
  to 
  

   Hindoo 
  mathematics 
  a 
  respectable 
  antiquity. 
  " 
  

  

  t 
  Science 
  Gossip, 
  Dec, 
  1866, 
  p. 
  283. 
  

  

  