industrial and Manufacturing Uses of Shells, 



295 



common in the South Sea Islands. Those made from the 

 Elenchiis irisodonta shell were always held in high estima- 

 tion among the aboriginal women of Van Diemen's Land, 

 worn as ornaments round the neck and head. Necklaces of 

 these are equally esteemed now by English ladies for their 

 beauty and rarity. 



The bright nacreous play of iridescent colours, which 

 doubtless first recommended them to notice, were brought 

 out by partial decomposition and removal of the cuticle 

 from long exposure, after being cast on the shore in a dead 

 state. The natives effected the same end artificially and 

 systematically, by placing them in a thick, dense smoke 

 from green vegetable matter. Instead of employing pyro- 

 ligneous acid thus accidentally obtained, they afterwards 

 came to use vinegar and friction to remove the epidermis, 

 and then rubbed them with various fatty substances until a 

 brilliant polish was acquired. They also boiled the shells 

 with tea and other astringent substances, to deepen the 

 blue-and-green tints characteristic of the shells. They 

 made small holes in the shells, by placing them between 

 their eye-teeth and giving them a nip, and then strung 

 them upon kangaroo sinews. But the last of the aboriginal 

 Tasmanians has passed away, and no more shell necklets 

 thus prepared can be obtained of them. 



In New Britain, San Christoval, and other islands east- 

 ward of New Guinea, the fierce inhabitants adorn them- 

 selves with necklaces of two very beautiful kinds of land 

 shells, both being white, the one having a golden yellow, 

 and the other a vermilion lip. Throughout the islands 

 inhabited by the crisp-haired Papuan race, a large species 

 of Ovidiim of a very pure white colour, resembling porce- 

 lain, is employed with great effect by the natives in deco- 

 rating their houses, temples, and canoes. One of the most 



