212 SHELLS AND THEIR ANIMALS. 



used as symbols of peace and amity, in opposition 

 to the war hatchet, is made from the Venus Mer- 

 cenaria; and the gorget of the chieftain's dress, 

 is constructed of the Mytilus Margaritiferus. 

 Among the Friendly Isles the permission to wear 

 the Cypraea Aurantia or Orange Cowry marks the 

 highest rank of the country. The Cypraea Moneta 

 or Money Cowry is the current money of many 

 nations of India and Africa, and the liberty of a 

 man is often bartered for a certain weight of these 

 shells. In Grecian History we read that the suf- 

 frages of the Athenians were on certain occasions 

 marked upon a shell. Pearls, the effect of disease 

 in certain Mollusca, form a portion of the revenue 

 of many kingdoms, and are among the most costly 

 ornaments of the noble and the wealthy. In for- 

 mer times the dye extracted from the Purpura 

 was a most valuable article of commerce, but it 

 has now been superseded by that which the Coch- 

 ineal furnishes in so much greater abundance. 



An old writer thus describes a custom of the 

 native Americans. The doors of their houses and 

 rooms were full of diverse kinds of shells, hang- 

 ing loose by small cords, that being shaken by 

 the wind they make a certain rattling and also a 

 whistling noise, by gathering the wind in their 

 hollow places ; herein they have great 'delight. 



