CERTAIN ANTIQUITIES OF THE FLORIDA WEST-COAST. 381 



While implements of shell are fairly numerous throughout the State, they are 

 in most profuse abundance along the southwest coast, especially the keys of the 

 Ten Thousand Islands. The great majority of these implements are marine uni- 

 valves perforated to receive a handle. Many have beaks ground down almost to a 

 cutting edge, while other shells, in use as hammers, have blunter beaks. It is of 

 this form of implement, that is to say, a shell used with a handle, as a hammer, a 

 chisel, a hoe, a gouge, an adze or the like, that we propose to speak. On Key 

 Marco, Chokoloskee Key and other places the great abundance of conchs {Fulgiir) 

 and " horse conchs " (Fasciolarza) is a positive detriment to cultivation and great 

 heaps of these shells, as we have previously stated, are often collected by the 

 inhabitants before agricultural work is attempted. Among these shells a fair per- 

 centage had been used as implements, broken and thrown aside in aboriginal 

 times, while a few, presumably lost, are still fairly perfect. 



#s^— ^ Mou/c/er /l/?g/e 

 or Per//?/teri/. 



f BodyMrorA 



Cana/. 



Fig. 30. — Nomenclature of parts of marine univalve. 



Before going into the matter of these shell implements, it may be well to show 

 a representation of a marine univalve with the names applied to its various parts 

 (Fig. 30), which we have borrowed from a book by Professor Pilsbry, of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, to whom, with Mr. Joseph Willcox, 

 also of the Academy, we are indebted for much information as to Florida shells. 



We shall now describe a representative selection from the shell implements 

 collected by us from the surface of the keys of the southwest coast of Florida. 

 All are shown full size in the illustrations. 



