The Conch Shells 



Quantities are shipped yearly to Liverpool and other cities to 

 manufacturers of porcelain. Ground to powder, they are espe- 

 cially adapted to this use. 



Though it lives only in tropical waters I fancy the conch is 

 pretty well known all over the country. People call it by its 

 name, and are always glad to have specimens. They are a com- 

 mon ornament on mantels, and most shell fanciers have them. 

 The first one I ever saw came from the grocer. He had several 

 barrels of them, and presented one to each purchaser of a quarter's 

 worth of a new brand of laundry soap! Few who live near the 

 ocean can realise what a profound sensation this shrewd advertis- 

 ing device created among the prairie folk whose largest and most 

 beautiful native mollusk is the dingy, but pearly-lined river clam. 



In Florida these giants clamber over the coral reefs, and in 

 still greater number along the coasts of the West Indian isles. 

 The "fountain shell" is a popular name, though I do not know 

 why. You may see the bare walks and flower beds outlined 

 by rows of weather worn and ugly conch shells in many southern 

 cottage gardens, and conch shell hanging-baskets overflowing 

 with trailing vines suspended in windows and from the lower 

 limbs of trees. The dinner horn on the plantation is often a 

 conch with its spire sawed off. The welcome "shell blow" calls 

 the West Indian Negroes from the sugar cane fields at noon. I 

 have seen these conchs also on Iowa farms and on ranches in 

 Wyoming serving the same purpose. The ancient inhabitants of 

 the islands made various rude weapons and utensils from this over- 

 abundant shell. These have been unearthed from shell mounds 

 in Florida and elsewhere. 



Alive among its coral rocks the conch is master of the situa- 

 tion. The shell is massive, but the animal is strong enough to 

 carry it without inconvenience. The muscular body thrusts out 

 the arching foot, which extends forward a thumb-like process, 

 the foot proper, with a creeping disk scarcely larger than a thumb 

 nail. The enlarged hind portion of the foot bears the claw-like 

 operculum on its extremity. 



The peculiar foot gives rise to a peculiar gait. The conch is 

 impulsive in temperament. It does not glide, but jumps along, 

 striking the sharp claw into the sand, and flopping the shell from 

 side to side as it proceeds. A most astonishing sight is a frightened 

 conch taking long leaps, and making quick turns to escape capture 



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