288 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



CHAPTER XL 



INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING USES OF SHELLS— 



Continued. 



Shell bangles or bracelets, made from the chank or Turbinella species — Re- 

 ligious veneration for the shell — Process of manufacture — The bangles 

 described — Great clam shells used as benitiers — The queen conch, large im- 

 portations of — Uses of nacreous and iridescent shells — Utilization of shells 

 for economic purposes — Shell utensils — Shell flowers — Shell trumpets — 

 Shell pipes— Pulverized and calcined shells — Ornamental uses of opercula 

 — Dyes from the moUusca — Tyrian purple — Marine silk. 



Shell Bangles or Bracelets. — Under the commercial name 

 of chanks, the large white, concave, heavy, porcelaneous 



Fig. 19. 



Chank shell {Turbinella pyrum). 



shells of tne Turbinella pyrum, Lam., the Valuta gravis, 

 Lin., and T. rapa, are much prized in India. The shell is 

 ventricose above, pear-shaped, fulvous white, with reddish 

 spots in young individuals. 



