308 



KEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



"As to the derivaticm of the word 'quahog,' Governor Winthrop re- 

 fers to it as 'Poquahauges, a rare shell and dainty food with the Indians. 

 The flesh eats like veal; the English make pyes thereof; and of the 



Fig. 5. 

 Quahaug ( Venus mercenaria). Inside view of left valve, showing the dark ventral margin. 



, (Atlantic coast of North America. From specimeu in U. S. N. M. ) 



shells the Indians make money.' He says of the money, 'it is called 

 wampampeegeS* Also called by some English henspo-qualiock. Three 

 are eqnal to a penny; a fathom is worth 5 shillings.! 

 "Poquahocle, corrupted into quahaug or quahog. n 



WHITE WAMPUM, OR WAMPUM-PEAGE. 



In Cadwallader Colden's History of the Five Indian Nations, he says 

 that wampum is made of the large whelk-shell Buccinum, and shaped 



like long beads; it is the current money of the 

 Indians. Whether the shells of the true Bug- 

 cinum (B. undatum, Linn.) or those of Pyrula 

 canaliculata% and Pyrula carica were used is 

 not satisfactorily explained. Probably all of 

 these were used, the long columella of the two 

 latter species causing them to be specially de- 

 sirable for the purpose of bead making, par- 

 ticularly the latter for the white beads. 



These shells are frequently referred to by 

 the old colonial writers as "cuuk" or "conch" 

 shells; and the names "periwinkle," "winkle," 



* Journal Royal Society, June 27, 1634. 

 t Fide Invertebrata of Massachusetts, Biuney's edi- 

 tion, p. 134. Specimens of wampum are contained in 

 the National Museum from Newport, Rhode Island, No. 

 Fig. 6. 17075; Cuyahoga, New York, 17157; Georgia mounds, 



Common Whislk {Buceinum un- 10027 ; Franklin, Tennessee, 19974. 



datum). | Fulgw (Sycolypus) canaliculatus, the grooved whelk. 



(Atlantic coaflt of North America. From / <> i>i 4. ,- \ 

 epecimen in U S. N. M. ) \oee I late II. J 



