MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 



beginning to be used. Japanese capital finds these 

 fisheries an attractive field. Moth)er-of-pearl shell to 

 the value of 35,000 was exported during the fiscal 

 year 1913. The number of pearls actually secured is 

 very difficult to estimate. 



Button Shells. The opening of two factories for 

 making pearl and other buttons in Manila has resulted 

 in a good trade in both the Green Snail or Turban 

 (Turbo marmoratus), and Top (Trockus niloticus) 

 shells. Besides the heavy local consumption, some 

 740 tons were exported in the past year (valued at over 

 28,000). 



Window Shells. Only in the Philippine Islands is the 

 window shell (Placuma placenta} used as a substitute for 

 glass in windows. These exceedingly thin, transparent 

 shells are remarkably tough and durable and last for a 

 lifetime with ordinary treatment; they constitute 

 almost entirely the window pane material of the Philip- 

 pine Islands. They are obtained in Manila Bay and to 

 a certain extent in the Visayas, no less than 5,000,000 

 shells being used per annum in the city of Manila 

 alone. 



Tortoise Shell. The exports of this material are 

 small, the value during the past year being only 350. 

 There are three marine species, one of which (Chelonc 

 imbricata) supplies most of the commercial shell. 



Trepang. No less than 63 species of sea cucumbers 

 are found in the Philippine Islands. In the Province 

 of Surigao and adjacent districts of the southern islands 

 the Chinese dealers carry on a very good trade in beche- 

 de-mer, some four or five distinct varieties being in 

 evidence. About 13,000 worth were secured in 1913, 

 the price per picul ranging from 12 pesos for the common 

 "Yellow Belly" to 80 pesos for the selected " Oe," 

 a large, smooth black sort (Holothuria atra), i.e., 20 

 to 80 per ton. Only desultory methods of collecting 

 this valuable and very wholesome product are in 

 evidence yet. 



Shark Fins. A Chinese and Moro fishery has existed 

 for some years in the Sulu Archipelago, the exports 

 being valued at about 10,000. Singapore and Hong 



