The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-07-28

| ed. trimmed and polished, and are ready for use. In general, the sound both in quality and quantity is propor- tioned to the size of the shell. The smallest approximate the penny whis- tie. while those of six and seven inches In length will equal any tin fishhorn extant. In ancient days still larger shells were used for making war horns. These. however. have become extinct or else are employed in the far interior. where the soldiery still use the spear. sword. bow and arrow. and armor. the same as did their ancestors four thou sand years ago.
 The shell gelatine Is better than might be expected and worth more than 1t looks to be. As found in the market 1t is dirty greenish brown substance with a course marine per fume.
 When made into jelly 1t is almost equal to our own clarified gelatine. bar ring a slight but pleasant flavor of the ocean. It Is excellent as basis of many made dishes. and is said to be of value in consumption and kindred com
 
 phosphorus 1t contains. The oldest and certainly the prettiest use to which seashells are put Is that of making figures and other works of art. It Is done in many parts of China. but finds It's highest development in Leh Ong. near Chsan Chin. In Fokien. Here there Is a guild which from fla ther to son has been doing this kind of work for centuries. The shells are gathered or received from the fishers and thoroughly cleansed. They are then separated according to shape. size and color and laid by in little boxes. The layers are comparatively small. running from an eighth to a quarter of an inch in diameter.
 The designer moulds the framework of the intended piece. It varies in com- position with the varied design. For a house 1t will be woodenware skeleton encased in clay. For a vase 1t may be earthenware. wood. or clay. reinforced by glue. For a plate or saucer 1t may be plaster of Paris.
 When the outline of the design is finished the artist lays on the shells, fastening them in place with clay or glue, plaster. or cement. They are ap- piled rapidly. and in short time cover nearly all the external surface. This makes up two-thirds of the work. The other third is the elaboration of special features. Thus in making a human figure. three-fourths of the design would be covered with small shells of the same color and dimensions But for the other fourth, things would be more difficult. Each finger is made of single long shell; the eyes, ears, lips, nose and chin of separate shells. In this way the artist manages to ob- tain the results and contrasts of color in the finished piece. He employs sev- eral hundred pieces of molluscan life, and besides uses pieces of lobster shell and shrimp scales to embellish the sub- ject of his study.
 At times the effects are astonishinr. Here for example is a statuette on. a mantel piece. It is over a foot square, and across the room looks like a col ored and vanished wood carving, in which a Chinese saint is riding a uni corn. Both biped and quadruped seem, VI ANe%AJ SoA VAi6o oI O ulSldACS OI i've yards. The features even down to the teeth are well reproduced, and the re- markable colors which mark every re- spectacle Chinese unicorn are as deep as if laid on with a palette knife. Close inspection shows both saint and beast to be composed of minute shells about the size of the letters in which these lines are printed.
 The scarlet colors are derived from pieces of boiled lobster and crab shells; the blues, greens, light tints and olives from the dytiscus and toxotes; the whites. yellows, browns and grays from whorls and Whelks. :,
 By filling or grinding these whorls and whelks parallel to their major axis a capital human eye or ear is obtained.
 Cutting the translucent parts of the thinner univalves into circles and ovals gives excellent petals, which when join- ed afford very pretty limitations of flowers.
 The Leh ong artists apparently value their labor by the number of shells up- on a piece. A clumsy and ugly plate and stand which contains 1000 shells commands $1, while pretty and artis- tic deer made of 300 can be bought for one half that sum.
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