42 OKHAMANDAL MARINE ZOOLOGY— PART II 



when the wearers cannot afford gold these boss ornaments for the back hair may also 

 be made from ivory, bone, horn and even coconut-shell. These are usually richly 

 carved and frequently mounted in gold. The central hole in the chank disc would in 

 such cases be used to secure the ornament to the hair. 



Beads made from chank-shells do not seem to be used except to form bracelet 

 and necklace amulets. I have seen no carefully worked and polished beads suitable 

 for purely ornamental use. It is possible, however, that necklaces have been made 

 from the pearls which are occasionally, but very rarely, found in the flesh (mantle) 

 of the chank. Such pearls are not uncommon in the West Indian conch which produces 

 them in sufficient frequency to constitute them regular items in the jewellery trade. 

 These " pink pearls " as they are called, are usually made up into necklaces. The Indian 

 chank is a much smaller shell, and although fished in far greater numbers than the 

 West Indian shell, it is exceedingly rare for a pearl to be found. The colour of the few 

 found varies from porcelain white to pale pink, and while it would be a matter of the 

 greatest difficulty to obtain enough during many years' search to make a necklace, 

 matching the colour and grading the size of the pearls to make the ornament a thing 

 of beauty, is well-nigh an impossibility. I have three of these chank pearls in my 

 possession ; they are the only ones I have ever seen. The largest is a perfect sphere, 

 ^f inch in diameter, porcelain or opal white in colour, of lovely skin grained with a most 

 peculiar motthng something after the, fashion of the " watering " of watered silk. 

 Another is slightly elongated in one axis {^ inch x J inch), oval or elliptical in outline,: 

 of a very pale pink tint and possessing also the peouUar watered grain shown by its" 

 fellow. The third is salmon coloured, almost spherical, with a diameter of ^^ inch. 



A few coat buttons are now made from chank-shells at Dacca — ^a recent departure 

 on the part of one or two cutters who have made a feeble and ill-sustained attempt 

 to open up new sources of demand. The main obstacle to the success of this new 

 departure Ues primarily in the lack of power-tools to cut up, drill and pohsh the material 

 more cheaply than is possible so long as dependence is placed upon hand labour, 

 however low be the wages paid. Granted even this change, great difficulties in the way 

 of success exist in the lack of artistic versatiUty characterising the chank cutters' trade 

 and the inability of the ordinary Indian manufacturer to appreciate the value of a 

 judicious advertisement of his wares. He grudges to pay out money in advertisement 

 and when he does so he usually brings about the loss he fears by lack of foresight in 

 keeping up his stock of the advertised article or by the foolish as well as dishonest trick 

 of sending an inferior article to that ordered and paid for by the customer who answers 

 his advertisement. 



With power machinery utilised by firms trading on sound and honest principles, 

 there should be a very great field for the sale of chank buttons. There is nearly always 

 a good demand for handsome buttons suitable for the decoration of ladies' jackets and 

 coats and owing to the beautiful porcellaneous appearance of chank-shell when cut 



