30 Notes on the Aboriginal Money of California. [January, 
NOTES ON THE ABORIGINAL MONEY OF CALIFORNIA. 
BY LORENZO G. YATES. 
Te material used by the aborigines of California for purposes 
of exchange, and as media of circulation, are shells of mol- 
lusca, and rocks made into forms generally resembling beads or 
buttons. The Dentalium (Figure 2, A) is used by the Indians 
of the north. Large numbers have been imported from Europe 
for trade with the Indians. 
The shell of Sazidomus aratus Gld. or “ clam-shell,? is 
broken into pieces of suitable size, and worked into flat circular 
(Fra. 2.) ABORIGINAL MONEY OF CALIFORNIA. 
disks, by rubbing upon a flat sandstone rock (which at some of 
the “ Rancherias,” or settlements, has to be brought from some 
distance). A hole is drilled through the centre and when fin- 
ished (Figure 2, B) they are strung on strings. Among the In- 
dians of Lake County eighty of these disks are valued at one dol- 
lar. The drill stock is formed as follows. (See Figure 3.) The 
shaft is about thirty inches long and formed of a straight stick 
somewhat tapering, a, about three fourths of an inch in diameter 
at the bottom or larger end. A hole is made through the upper end 
of the shaft, b, through which is passed a buckskin string about 
