The Chambered Nautilus 



the opposing shores of Cebu and Negros was able to pick up 

 three thousand shells for export. 



An increasing number of fishermen are trapping Nautili for 

 the shells for export. In early summer, after the windy winter 

 season is over and a calm lies on the water, the fishing begins in 

 earnest. June is the best month of all. The fishermen bring 

 their fish-traps, woven bamboo splint "bo-bos" with a cone- 

 shaped entrance, much like a live trap for rats. Daily or every 

 few days the fisherman hauls up his traps, removes his catch of 

 four or five Nautili by a trap door in the bottom of the cage, 

 renews the bait and lets the traps go down again. 



The field has in recent years been visited by naturalists, 

 eager to collect this mollusk in quantity, for museums and uni- 

 versity collections. Arthur Willey experimented with different 

 kinds of bait, and stated in his 1897 report: 



One of the surest ways of obtaining Nautili, and, in fact 

 the method by which I have obtained most of my specimens 

 at Lifu, is to bait the fish basket with the cooked and bruised ex- 

 oskeleton of a crab, Palinurus, or an allied form. The strongly 

 scented potage so produced is then wrapped up in cocoanut fibre, 

 like a small parce and then placed in the fish trap over night. 

 There is, therefore, nothing to be seen ; but on the other hand 

 there is something to be smelt, and by this means I have 

 obtained as many as ten Nautili at one time. 



In Paris, quantities of Nautilus shells are used in the finest 

 cameo-cutting, and in making pearl ornaments. In India the 

 shells are ornamented and used as drinking cups. In America 

 they are valued as cabinet specimens. A dealer in shells in New 

 York will charge $2.50 to $5.00 for a good-sized and perfect 

 specimen. In San Francisco you need not pay so much, and 

 you have a better stock to choose from. It is possible to get shells 

 sawed in two, revealing the many chambers into which the spire 

 is divided. If the surface layer of limy substance has been rubbed 

 off by the use of a dilute acid, the shell is pearly throughout, 

 one of the largest, most beautiful and most interesting shells to 

 be found in any collection. 



Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has established the Pearly Nau- 

 tilus, with all the charm of myth and poetry upon it, in the minds 

 and hearts of all English-speaking people. The ship of pearl is 

 not more beautiful than are the lines in which the poet has de- 

 scribed it and interpreted its heavenly message. 



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