San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-01-22
odd Uses OF Sea snailes.

"Snails that live in the sea are use
full for many more important purposes
than most people imagine" said 8
naturalist to Star writer. "Some
of them, known as Wrinkles, are
used to q great extent for food In
England, being sold at the street
corners in the cities, where they are
esteemed great luxury by the poor.
On the North Atlantic coast we have
certain species of whelks which might
| be made to serve admirably for eat
| ing. affording q cheap and nutritious
diet. Even in the waters of the far
Arctic these gasteropods are found
I'm great numbers, where they some
times supply q means of subsistence
to cast away whalers and other voy.
ayers who would otherwise perish
of starvation. On the other hand,
some univalves do great deal OF
damage by destroying oysters in
beds, drilling through the shells
with their file-like tongues and suck
ing out the occupants of the houses
into which they have thus forced an
entrance. The cOnch, instead of
drilling like the whelks, seizes the
unfortunate bivalve with its power
full foot and brushes it. by the sheer
exertion of muscular power, as one
would smash an English walnut in
the fist.
"Pretty nearly every one has seen
the curious sea rnffles or sea neck
laces, which are found plentifuily on
ocean beaches. These are the egg
cases of the sea snails. They consist
of q number of small disk-shaped
envelopes attached along q sort of
stem, the biggest of them being in
the middle. In each envelope there
Is little spot of thinner material,
which the young break through
when they are ready to be Matched.
When the female gasteropOd is about
to lay she buries herself in the sand,
from the surface of which the neck
lace of eggs Is gradually extruded.
Being thus set adrift and exposed to
the elements, as we'll as to devouring
enemies, few of the eggs are ever
Matched, but those which do come
into the world safely and survive
doub tless live to q very great age.
1.-TWO kinds of boring sea snails |
supplied in ancient times the most |
famous of all dyes. known as Tyrian
purple, which was considered too
splendid to be worn by any but kings |
and mobiles. One pound of wool dyed |
by which it was extracted being very |
tedious and 6 pounds OF dye liquor
being required for staining pound |
of wool. The liquor was procured by
placing the very small whelks in a |
mortar and crushing them. To this
the animals extracted from the larger
shells were added, as we'll as certain
of urine and water In
which the snails had been allowed |
to putrefy. In the mixture thus COM
pounded the cloth or wool to be dyed |
was soaked, being afterward exposed |
to light. Chemists say that by this
process there was effected q transfer.
nation of uric acid into purpurate of
ammonia, termed for short murexide,
because one of the Gwo species OF
snails used was the murex. The /
other species was what is known as
the purpura.
"The murex and purpura were
mixed in the process in the proper
ton of two to one. Fabrics thus dyed
had very surprising and beautiful
effect of color, presenting metallic |
green reflections from one point of
view, and in others showing brown |
time imagined that the idsscence
of the feathers of hummIng-birds and
peacocks was caused by q substance
of the nature of murexi6e, but it is
known how that these brilliant hues
are occasioned by structure of the
feathers which breaks up the light.
Is now obtained from guano
as well as from mollusks.
"Other whelks also yield dyes. If
the shell of the purpura lapIllus be
broken there is seen on the back OF |
the animal, just under the skin, a
whitish vein, which con tains |
q yellow liquor. When this liquor is
applied to linen with a small brush |
aud exposed to the sun it becomes
successfully green, blue and purple,
and finally settles into brilliant |
crimson. Housewives |
of New England have growing abun-
dainty on the seaside rocks in their |
neig hborhoods little living bottles OF /
indelible ink, not to be excelled in |
beauty or durability by any manu-
product, since neither acid |
nor alcohol will affect this juice or
the whelk.
son the Pacific Coast are numer-
ously found little shells OF sea snails
OF q species called the 'oliveila.' be-
cause of their resemblance to olives,
out of which the Indians used to cut
disks that were extensively used for
coins. Conch shells, when ground,
enter into the manufacture of pOrce-
lain. The rose-colored pearls of the
pink conch are very valuable, and
have beautiful wavy sheen like that
of watared eilk Tn tho N al oh hor-