The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells 



siphon which curls up through the canal and reaches through the 

 sand up to the clear water, is like the trunk of a swimming ele- 

 phant." I have found them just under the muddy sand along 

 the breakwater at San Pedro, but not in companies, as Professor 

 Keep did. 



The shells are offered for sale in quantities by curio dealers 

 in coast towns. Portieres are made by stringing these shells, 

 prepared by grinding off the apex. I have seen stringers alter- 

 nate shells with glass beads. To many people these clattering 

 strands seem desirable household impedimenta to hang in door- 

 ways, or as draperies for windows. The shells retain their pretti- 

 ness though mutilated, and devoted to inappropriate uses. 



The stringing of these olive shells began with the Indians 

 who used them as money. These strings of shells beads were 

 called Kol-Kol. 



The Angled Olive (0. angulata, Lam.) is distinguished by 

 the angular swelling of the body whorl, above the middle, and by 

 the great thickness of the shell. The aperture is much wider 

 than is usual in the genus. The pale ground is finely mottled 

 with grayish brown; over this under pattern are laid longitudinal 

 bands of dark brown in graphic, zigzag lines. The pink callus 

 of the interior is reflected over the thick margin of the lip. The 

 oblique folds on the columella are anterior and rather faint. 

 The spire is short, its suture narrow and deep. The young shell 

 lacks the angle, but the pink lining distinguishes it from species 

 with similar markings. Length, 2^ to 3J inches. 



The Porphyry Olive {0. porphyria, Linn.), 4 inches long, 

 is the largest species. It is flesh-coloured under a complex net- 

 work of longitudinally zigzag brown lines. Crowding of these 

 lines gives the effect of irregular broad bands of chestnut. The 

 callus reflected over the lips from within is violet-coloured and 

 lustrous. The columella is yellowish brown with faint ridges. 



The paler areas of the surface are triangles outlined with 

 brown. They look like a vast encampment of tents, of all sizes, 

 on a hillside. The name "Camp Olive" is thus accounted for. 

 The resemblance to porphyry is also pronounced. 



This agile mollusk is found in sandy mud flats at low tide. 



Habitat. — Panama to Mazatlan. 



The Netted Olive {0. reticularis, Lam.) has an intricate 

 lace pattern of fine lines of brown woven upon a white ground, 



9.3 



