< <>\\KY, n.V H \\|, 



SHELLS 



age more i -rjseep. 70). ' .< the nutrient ratio a* I 



and the nutrient value a* :!. As FODDER, the straw is not reckoned rmy nourish- Podder 

 ing and JH often only used as bed .'houses. 



xttit. Dacca, 1889, 37; Banerj. , 



D.B.P., 



I'M Mi, 60; Lawrence, Valley of Kashmir. 1895. 337; Mysore Oat'. \wft. i., IMl-7.) 



SHELLS. Three groups of sheila are of induatrial value in India : 

 (a) Cowries or shells used as mone\ , bells u*. 



artistic and industrial purposes ; (<) Shells, freshwater and i died 



as sources of lime ; and (<l) Ornamental Corals. 



COWRY kauri, kiiwli. kaparda the mnaJI white S)M>|| of fytirmm 

 uirf,. From time immemorial thiH has been employed in the currency of 

 Southern A-ia. more especially m China. The use is slt'MJed to by MaV"ti 

 . '.'i:: L..)I '> ^l'"' l'"l". ami i,\ many other writers, more especially of the 

 Maldives, South ludi. i and Hengal. In India they an- rapidly disappearing, 

 though in the rural parU of tin- country they are *till SOmJoyMM money. Thetr 

 value appears to be 6, 144 to the rupee. But in addition they are largely employed 

 as articles of adornment for homes, cattle, etc. The u 



IT.r.f'S wt., valued at Rs. fxi.s'.rj . and five years later (1906-4) 21,403 cwt.. 

 valued at Rs. 81,710; and 1906-7. 1C .\aluedatRs.68.845. The bulk of 



these foreign supplies came from East Africa and were imported into Bombay 

 mainly, then Calcutta, Karachi, and last of all Madras. A considerable local 

 supply is also obtained from the Laccadive and Muldive Islands. [' 

 2nd. Art at Delhi, 1903, 206.] 



CONCH OR CHANK, MOTHER-OF-PEARL, ETC. Thomas. Pearl and 

 Chank Fisheries, 1884; Thurston, Mad. Bull., |X!M. \o. I The sacred chank. 

 conch or sankha (Ttirblneiiu >-apn), JH procured by diver* in the (Julf of Miuutr, 

 opposite Jaffnapatam in Ceylon, and off the coast of Travancore, Tuticorin. 

 Formerly tin- traffic in these shells was a State monopoly, to-day the < 

 fisheries are regulated by an Ordinance. And so far as India is concerned, a 

 notification is simply given when the sales will occur at Tuticorin. AH much as a 

 lakh and a half of rupees' worth is often disposed of at one time. But so long 

 ago as the 16th century Garcia de Orta spoke of the trade with Bengal in these 

 shells having declined, and Bocarro in the ITth < < niur\ made special mention of 

 the manufacture of bracelets from them. A right-handed chank (that is to say. 

 one with the spiral opening to the right) is much prized l>y the Hindus to be used 

 at their temples, and being exceedingly rare often fetches a high price. Bracelet*. 

 armlets, charms, etc., are made of tho ordinary conch shell, and these have been 

 used in India from time immemorial, such bracelets being known as tankhan and 

 the workers as sankharis. It is somewhat curious that the chief centre*, of this 

 trade are all remote from the localities of production namely Dacca, Patna, 

 Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bardwan, Balasore, Bankura. Sylhet. et. -. Many of the 

 smaller and more ornate shells are specially collected and used for personal 

 adornment, or are worked up in fancy goods. 



Mother- ot- Peart is procured at both the pearl and the chank fisheries. The 

 shells are largely exported from Tuticorin, and used up in inlaying both wood 

 and stone at Kota, Bhera and Agra (see p. 558). 



SHELLS, CORAL, ETC., used as sources of LIMK (see p. 712). 



CORAL murjdn, munga, aangi-marjun, gulli. pdvdlam, jtagadan, 

 mainly of interest to India in the form of coral-reefs modern or ancient and 

 hence as sources of lime.. Very little can be learned regarding indigenous orna- 

 mental corals. Mason, writing of the coast of Hurnm. mentions an elegant species 

 of ArtlHla and of Meantlrta found in Amlicrnt and .Mer^ui. He also refers to a 

 scarlet coral composed of cylindric tubes united together (rfMj*^M *<<): 

 a star-coral and tree-coral as plentiful on the coast ''-lack corai 



(AntiiititiHirin ) is also met with, of which beads are made and traded in from the 

 Mergui Archipelago. Speaking of Tenasserim, Mason alludes to a tree-coral two 

 feet long being of a deep scarletoften sold under the i. Ked Coral." 



There are no properly constituted coral fisheries in India or Burma, ami 

 cannot accordingly be said that we possess the information to d< 

 not any of the Indian species are of industrial \alue. The Indian trade in 

 ornamental coral accordingly centres around the imported ki.id*, 

 foreign products, need not be dealt with in thin w..rl; further than to mention the- 



Cowry. 





Conch. 



Itecvftl Trmflfc. 



Mother of- 

 Pearl. 



Lime. 

 CormL 



