432 
J. HORNELL ON 
bination of merchants sort the shells bought, in accordance with the established custom 
of the trade, into nine grades from No. i to No. 9 inclusive. 
The relative sizes of the nine grades are as follow : — 
Grade 1. — Shells above 4 inches in diameter. 
,, 2. — ,, between 3I and 4 inches in diameter. 
y y 
3 -- 
y y 
y y 
3 k 
y y 
q3 
04 
y y 
y y . 
y y 
4 -~ 
y y 
y y 
3 k 
y y 
3 k 
y y 
y y 
y y 
5 -- 
y y 
y y 
3 
y y 
3 k 
y y 
y 
y y 
6.- 
y y 
y y 
2 - 3 - 
y y 
3 
y y 
y y 
y y 
7 -~ 
y y 
y y 
21% 
y y 
2f 
y y 
' y 
y y 
8.— 
y y 
y y 
2f 
y y 
2 1TJ 
y y 
y ’ 
y y 
9 -~ 
y y 
y y 
2k 
y y 
2| 
y y 
y, 
A variable proportion of grade No. 9 (between 2§- and 2 \ inches in diameter) is 
added to the bags, as the cutters object to any large proportion of this grade, on account 
of the difficulty of utilizing any large number of bracelets of such small diameter. No 
shells under No. 9 (2^ in. diameter) are mixed with the assorted size ; these smallest 
size shells are kept separate and sold apart from the others. 
Shells wormed on the larger whorls are also excluded from the bags, but if the 
apex only be slightly affected no objection is made to inclusion as this part is of no 
value, being smashed in prior to slicing up the shell. 
The present tendency is towards enhanced prices partly because of competition, 
actual or threatened, and partly because of the increasing prosperity of the chank- 
bangle industry. The former cause is fortuitous and may be transitory, the latter 
substantial and giving promise of continuance owing to the increasing demand for 
chank bracelets by the better class Hindu ladies of Bengal. The Bengal Swadeshi 
movement has been the principal factor as the people were asked to discontinue the 
use of foreign-made glass bangles (almost all made in Austria) and to resume the wear- 
ing of chank bracelets according to the custom of their ancestors. A second factor of 
considerable and increasing force is the marked advance in the artistic quality of the 
bracelets turned out. Some firms produce beautiful and harmonious designs, in- 
finitely more artistic and pleasing to the eye than any of the gaudy glassware imported 
from Europe. The higher caste Hindu ladies who a few years ago were rapidly dis- 
carding chank bracelets as regular adornments fit only for the use of low-caste people, 
are resuming the habit — a change due undoubtedly to the Swadeshi movement rein- 
forced by an increase of skill and taste on the part of the more enterprising firms. 
Transactions between wholesale dealers as well as the sale of shells and ring-sec- 
tions are almost always for credit, usually for periods of two to three months. Bosses 
occur but seldom, for the “ combine ” would at once refuse to deal with defaulters, 
and workers who cannot or will not pay, or who give trouble, find the sources of supply 
of the raw material required in their trade cut off ; they must make their peace with 
the middlemen or quit business — a drastic alternative which ensures the due perform- 
ance of promises made to sellers. 
