THE ECONOMIC MOLLUSCA OF ACADIA. 
11 
mud underlying the mussel-beds. In time the Mussels them- 
selves are sure to become valuable, and certain beds should be 
left undisturbed. The Squid has been to some extent used 
for this purpose, but lately it has become too valuable as a 
bait to be so employed. 
The shells of but few of our Molluscs are available for 
purposes of ornamentation. Most shells of the Temperate 
Zone are plain and dull in comparison with the brilliantly 
colored and beautifully sculptured forms of the tropic seas. 
Hence a review of the subject as far as regards our waters 
would be very short in comparison with that of the world 
at large. Savage and civilized man have alike delighted to 
use them for personal and household decoration. Some of our 
Whelks or Spindle-shells are frequently seen as ornaments for 
mantels in fishermen’s houses, and as borders for flower-beds 
in their gardens. Mussel-shells and the Cockle ( Cardium) are 
made into ornamental dishes, pin-cushions and the like. The 
valves of Scallops, particularly of our great Pecten tenuicosta- 
tus, and the Beach Clam (Mactra solidissima) give a good 
surface for painting on, and are frequently thus utilized. No 
doubt our Trochus occidentalis and species of Margarita could 
be used for many minor purposes if they could be obtained in 
sufficient numbers; they are as beautiful as most of the shells 
made into shell boxes and the like. The Indians of America 
used wampum as an ornament as well as for money; the 
Indians of Acadia appeared to have employed it more for the 
former purpose than the latter. The subject will be further 
considered below. 
By far the most important of ornaments yielded by Molluscs 
are pearls. The best, as everybody knows, come from the 
Persian Gulf and the coasts of Ceylon and Central America, 
and are found in the pearl oyster. Several of our Molluscs 
yield bodies, which, though pearly in their nature and mode 
of formation, yet lack the lustre of true pearls. Such occur in 
the Horse-mussel, Edible Mussel, and even in Quahogs, Clams 
and Oysters, of which the first two have the nearest true pearls 
in appearance. Those of the Edible Mussel have had some 
commercial value in England. In the Mussels of our fresh 
