lOO SHELLS AS ORNAMENTS AS SYMBOLS OF WORSHIP cH. 



Haliotis, and are sometimes strengthened by a backing made of 

 the columella of Cypraea arabica. Small axe-heads are made 

 from Terebra crenidata ground down (Woodlark I.), and larger 

 forms are fashioned from the giant Tridacna (Fiji). 



Shells are used to ornament the elaborate cloaks worn by the 

 women of rank in the Indian tribes of South America. Speci- 

 mens of AmpuUaria, Orthalicus, Labyrinthus, and Bulimulus 

 depend from the bottom and back of these garments, while great 

 Bulimi, 6 inches long, are worn as a breast ornament, and at the 

 end of a string of beads and teeth.^ 



The chank-shell {Turhinella rapa) is of especial interest from 

 its connexion with the religion of the Hindoos. The god 

 Vishnu is represented as holding this shell in his hand, and the 

 sinistral form of it, which is excessively rare, is regarded with 

 extraordinary veneration. The chank appears as a symbol on 

 the coins of some of the ancient Indian Empires, and is still 

 retained on the coinage of the Eajah of Travancore. 



The chief fishery of the chank-shell is at Tuticorin, on the 

 Gulf of Manaar, and is conducted during the N.E. monsoon, 

 October-May. In 1885-86 as many as 332,000 specimens 

 were obtained, the net amount realised being nearly Es. 24,0 00. 

 In former days the trade was much more lucrative, 4 or 5 

 millions of specimens being frequently shipped. The govern- 

 ment of Ceylon used to receive £4000 a year for licenses to 

 fish, but now the trade is free. The shells are brought up by 

 divers from 2 or 3 fathoms of water. In 1887 a sinistral 

 specimen was found at Jaffna, which sold for Es.700.'^ Nearly 

 all the shells are sent to Dacca, where they are sliced into 

 bangles and anklets to be worn by the Hindoo women. 



Perhaps the most important industry which deals only with 

 the shells of Mollusca is that connected with the ' pearl-oyster.' 

 The history of the trade forms a small literature in itself It 

 must be sulficient here to note that the species in question is 

 not an ' oyster,' properly so called, but an Avicula {margaritifera 

 Lam.). The ' mother-of-pearl,' which is extensively employed 

 for the manufacture of buttons, studs, knife-handles, fans, card- 

 cases, brooches, boxes, and every kind of inlaid work, is the 



1 Most of tlie above facts are derived from a study of a collection of native 

 implements, weapons, ornaments, etc., in the Antiquarian Museum at Cambridge. 

 - Thurston, Notes on the Pearl and Chank Fisheries, Madras, 1890. 



