Industrial and Manufacturing Uses of Shells. 293 



colour. The hill Dyaks of Borneo wear broad armlets 

 made of this shell, which, when polished by length of use, 

 resemble ivory, but never acquire its yellow tinge. Two of 

 these valued shell-bracelets on each arm are the favourite 

 number with the women. 



In the " Voyage of the Rattlesnake " we are told the 

 natives of Coral Haven wear bracelets of solid shell 

 formed by grinding down the Trochus Niloticus, so as to 

 obtain a well-polished transverse section, and another in 

 two or three pieces tied together, making a round smooth 

 ring ; of the former of these five or six are sometimes worn 

 on one arm. 



The Queen Conch. — The S trombus gigas, or fou ntain-shell 

 of the West Indies, fills up the earlier whorls with solid 

 matter, and sometimes weighs five pounds. It is a favourite 

 ornament in milk-shops in consequence of the delicate 

 pink colour of the mouth. It is also ground to powder 

 wholesale for the manufacture of the finer kinds of porce- 

 lain, 300,000 having been imported into Liverpool in one 

 year from the Bahama Islands, and used chiefly for this 

 purpose. One vessel, the Crusader, brought home 5000 

 of these shells from Nassau, New Providence, in the close 

 of 1875. 



The nacreous and iridescent shells used for inlaying 

 and ornamental purposes will be spoken of in the section 

 on mother-of-pearl, but these may claim a few words 

 here. The " green snail " of the dealers, the Tiirbo 

 olearius, is very largely used for ornamental purposes. 

 Slices of this shell, ground down to a thin surface, are 

 employed for covering or inlaying various articles, such as 

 small stamp-cases, little tablet-covers, fancy boxes, baskets 

 with metallic handles ; buttons, earrings, and other articles 

 are made of it, and very pretty ornamental stands, which 



