The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-09-07
The STUDY OF
SEA-SHELLS.
Bpautiful and Attractive Gems OF
the Sea and of the Ocean
Deep.
MAKING A FINE COLLECTION.
Facts and Figures That May Prove of
Interest TO Those Who Are In
cIined to Become Known as Con-
choIosists-The Market Value of
Curious SheIIs-The Trumpeter.
Rare Beauty of Coloring.


Rare Beauty of Coloring.
rrn HERE is, in all probability, no place
EgR in the Union like San Francisco IN
,SA5A which to study sea-shellS and make
collection of Them" said an enthusiastic
cOncho!ogist to a representative OF IHE
CALL a few days since, ''for no. only are
beautiful gems OF the sea obtainable from
he shores within easy reach of the city, but
shells from every part of the world are
brought TO this port by sailors who form
the crews of the many vessels reaching TINS
port. Any one anxious 10 secure such
, treasures can do so by Intervening the
crews Of vessels as they arrive. There Is
scarcely a sailor who does not at some port
or other secure few specimens either to
present to some friend or sell to collectors
like myself. BY the way" he continued,
al saw in the New York Sun of recent date
an interesting article on this subject which
may prove OF as much interest to the great
army If readers OF THE CALL as 1t did to
me"
The article, an interview with a collector
of the Empire City, is as follows: Interest
in shell collecting is slowly growing III TINS
city," Mr.. Schopf said, ''and believe that It
is 4 good thing for the townspeople. 1t
means the development Of an instinct that
will leld u the beautiiyng of homes in an
attractive ard distinctive manner. The city
has superb shell collection in the Museum
Of Natural History that is doing much TO de-
ye.p this fancy for conChology. The novice
will find it 4 revelation The expert Will
Guger in rapturous study of the sea maryelS.
1t would be an excellent thing to induce
school children to visit the collection. 1t
would develop IN them taste for home dec
Grafton that can be INDUCED in!at much less
expense, with gratifying results, than the
hobby Of collecting bri.-a-brac, for example.
In shells you have something that is dis
tinctiye. You can make it feature that will
be attractive to friends who visit Your home. D."
THE COST.
"How much does il cost TO secure colec-
tom"
That depends of course, upon the idea
of the collector. a very fax private cOllec-
ton that will make handsome and inter
esting cabinet for the parlor may be secured
for from $40 to SIS 1t will include between
100 and $50 specimens. These can be ar
ranged in the cabinet SO that the varied tints
anu COlNUlutIuUS dlll mai n VI LA4S 9iiSAAS
will be most effectively shown. Such co..
lection would be for an amateur. What we
call regular collection, affording a very
comprehensive view of the different she'll
families and characteristics, costs $500. To
the lover Of the oddities of nature it is much
more interesting than $500 worth of paint
ingS or Oric-a-btaC would be. With such a
collection one could entertain his friends for
hours at time pointing out the woundrOus
Vii 4 - a
anu IM'St' and oddities. For example, such
.StUUtecuoh Would contain the trdmpeter."
asked ''-' '1'i''A
ne expert went 10 4 case and lifted out q
eonch-shaped shell, nearly two feet in Length
and marked like tortoise shell. a hole hat
lenn d,iiled in the. surface at the larg
emu OIL me shell. The merchant placed hl
trumpet blast echoed and re-echoed througI
the pace and brought passerS-by to q stand
sill in the street. They stared in open-eyeC
wonder al the man in the doorway blowing
upon the big, handsome shell.
at isn't necessary to explain further why
It is called the trumpeter, Is it?" exclaimed
the merchant with smile.
"Tuis shell comes from Singapore ant
belongs to the Triton family. Sailors ofteI
used it as leg horn, ond it makes gOOt
one, too. Perfect sp cimens Of the shell ar
WORTH from $40 to SIS. Its markings, or
rather, what concholOgists call its drawings
make it worth that. The English names Q
shells make noyices laugh sometimes, unit
attention is called to their singular apprc
priat ness. 4 shell quite common and easil
obtained. for example, is - bleeding teeth.
1t is name that never fails to surprise tn
novice. New see for yourself If it is nc
appropriate"
BLEEDING TEETH.
The collector stopped over another case, an
drew ont from compartment of a tray G
SHELLS a small. broWnSh shell, shaped 1ihe
snaii-shell. Upon the upper lip OF tiie she me
was a little projection shaggs;dh Gxaeay Tx
them. nj reddish tint made it appear a
though they were bleeding.
Equally appropriate in name are man
If the shells that belong to the yoluta family
These are classed as rare shells, and are pet
of expert col!ec Ors. Noluta shells are Ion
ana narrow, and are oTnamented with spot
OF va led TINT The voluta musca is orna
mened on is outer surface with bars {
muse. GU can see the notes plainly
Specimens are secured in the Bahamas, an
are worth from So TO S. each. The imperis
ycIuta has an imperial crown set on one enc
and costs from 81 to S15. Another gem Q
the family is the Hebrew voluta, the SUI
face of which looks as though it were en-
graved with Hebrew letters. The mark in
Is the work of nature, and is wonderful il
its striking likeness 10 Hebrew script. A
specimen is worth from So to 500 The
family is "a large one, and OF wide variety
The eonuS family numbers members with
curious names. These shells are shaped
ike cones or sugar loaves. There is tn,
emperor, the captain, the admiral, tht
general, the photographer, so called because
OF its beautiful cOloring; the lettered conus
the geographer and the imperial crown
Conus shells are worth anywhere from
quarter TO $50 each, according to theil
design.
'Shylls of rare beauty Of coloring are
found among the family commonly called
a. I.r
Ihha, Africa, Cape Of Good Hone and the
% sandwich Islands. The Sandwich Islands
are famous for the orange cowry, the most
expensive specimen of this family. 1t has
natural gloss of orange hue, and is valued
at from S25 to s35 Probably the best col
Rciion ct co"ry shells owned by private
collector Is that IF Lawyer Uselma c. Smith
OF fhlladelphIa., There is also the spotted,
llle aotteu and the ringed cowry, each differ
eht IN Uniting and marking and each valued
Iency. 1A
FROM THE PACIFIC.
The Pacific Coast gives ms tbe nos,
beautiful and largest shell Of the olive Ton,
Hy III tue camp or tented olive. which has
rows oil tents marked on its outer surface
making II Iook IKE the picture Of military
camp. Olive shells get their name from
Their shape, and they are large and very
beautiful Quantities of them are found in
the East and West Indies.
some OF the rareSt and most beautiful
shells In the world are found in China
which make up in beauty of specimens fo,
dearth of variety in supply. The rarest
specimens are the weaver'S shuttle and the
seallefea, or staircase shell. Both these shell,
are pure white in color and exquisite il
design They are the prizes of the sea. Like
rare vio.ins they must be snapped up by the
collector whenever he sees them, for he ma,
never get the opportunity to secure specf
men again, AT one time in England speci.
mems OF me staircase shell brought S10(
apiece. The shell is about two Inches in
length and resembles spiral snail shell in
1prm' Wmle there is large supply, nova
days, it Is hard to locate the shells.
curious specimen that no good coliec-
lion IS complete without is the spondilus.
This Is rough shell Of the oyster family
large in shape. Specimens consist of two
shells held together by a natural hinge
The interior is richly tinted. Some are red
others yellow, others pink. The American
snoudilus has band of red alone a. -.