INTRODUCTION. 



CUSTOMARY USES TO WHICH SHELLS AND THEIR INHA- 

 BITANTS ARE CONVERTED. 



The principal benefit derived by man from shell-fish, 

 appears to be in the way of food. Whole countries are 

 known to have no other sustenance for weeks together 

 but what is the produce of the sea : and shell-fish fill no 

 unimportant station in the immense catalogue of its pro- 

 duct. 



The nutritive and delicious food afforded by oysters, 

 scallops, muscles, and cockles, is too well known to re- 

 quire any remark. 



In many countries which do not produce limestone, as 

 the coast of Brazil, &c. shells are collected in great quan- 

 tities, and, after calcination, form a most desirable substi- 

 tute for that useful material : in this state they are also 

 considered excellent as manure. 



The Indians frequently convert shells into domestic 

 and defensive implements; the South-sea islanders, for 

 example, head their javelins with them, and manufacture 

 them into fish hooks and various sorts of tools. Their 

 principal ornaments are often studded or embossed with 

 rows and groups of shells, artfully disposed, in regular 

 order, which are worn as marks of superiority, or as brace- 

 lets or armlets, and frequently form handsome appendages 

 for the ears. A very extensive commerce is carried on in 

 Ceylon with the shank shell, (Murex rapa) which is in 

 great request for ornamental purposes. 



The Chinese convert shells, that are opalescent when 



uncoated, into various articles of domestic economy, such 



as drinking cups, ewers, &c. and the Indian cabinets, 



so famous for their beauty and exquisite workmanship, 



n2 



