The Portland daily press., 1897-08-10

almost wholly from the neiphborhood of
the MaldiEe and Laccadive Islands. The
coWry is the most widely used of shells
for money, the supply being SO far lin
lted that one coWry represenst a definite
amount of labor in the process of finding
and there is no material chance that q
sudden initiation of the currency will be
caused by the discovery of a great depos-
it of the shells. The latter pass current
all over the South Pacific, in southern
Asia, on the islands of the Indian Ocean
and in parts of Africa. One hundred of
them are worth two cents. Vast guam
Titles of them are imported into England
for utilization by merchants who trade in
the lndo-Pacifio and in Africa. In the
Dark Continent the price of a young wife
Is oo,O00 cowries, or $12 In the Soudan
eoWrles are the only currency.
IN Africa there is huge species of
sialI that lives on trees and weighs over
pound. 1t is known to science as the
MMonetarla, NJ because the natives cut it's
shell to pieces and use them for money.
eI- onetis, f IN TACT, seem to be the Oldest mon
~ ehe world; they were in use for
@ onaC purpose long before gold, silver or
ooIpPer. smells were employed almost ex-
SSiunt,Seiy as medium o exchange by the
oouCh american Indians before the time
oi,,o ~ Ootuinpus. nn % Particularly the round
cIaln, or quohaug, was utilized by them
IN thls way, the blue part being cut out
OF eacn she'll. The island of Conanicut.
In Narragansett Bay, was sold tn the
whites originally for 100 pounds of such
wampum, which was worth So 30 a
lathom strung on twine. Eventually this
currency became much deprecated, firms
IN New York turning it out by machine
ry. Periwinkles also were largely used
as money. But the most valuable money
Shell was the ear-shell or abalone, sin
gle specimen of which was worth from
Si0 to sl5. Out of the flat part of it were
cut round 81 pieces.
A species of cowry that is almost
priceless is known as the Cypraea princeps.
only three specimens of it exist in the
hands or museums and collectors. An
other valuable she'll is the cone-shaped
Story of the Sea-" which is quoted at
500. The animal that occupies it is
able to infiict a severe bite. Naturally
prices OF shells f1uctuate according to the
law of supply and demand. The Scalaria
pretiosa, occurring in Chinese waters,
was formerly very rare and fetched $500;
Dut somebody found out where the ami
mails were plentiful, and now specimen
may be obtained for 81.
One of the most valuable shells is the
"yoluta Juonia,' y found on the west coast
of Florida. 1t is very pretty, and by rea-
son of its rarity it is worth $25. Not least
queer among shells is the odontosmus-
meaning "toothed mouth '-the opening
of which is ornamented with teeth. In
reality these teeth are simply proiec-
tions Of the SHE'LL by means of which the
occupant tries to prevent an enemy from
intruding. The ''chiton" looks yery much
like big caterpillar, it's shell being com
posed of a series of plates. One of the
most curious shells in the world is made
by mollusk rather common in tropical
waters, called the 'vermetus.'' The
dyyal ling of th, animal ipctaol ~ oa;1;,,r,
itself in the ordinary fashion, wanders
OF into crooked tube that looks some.
what like worm. Among the oldest of
shells are the carrier shells. Mollusks
OF this species, by means of sort of cem-
ent, attach to their shells pieces of coral
and other shells. Just how they manage
to do it is a mystery. Thus decorated,
they lie on the bottom of the sea looking
like little heaps of rubbish. In this wise
they are concealed from enemies. 1t is
hardly possible to detect the deception ex-
cept when the animals move.
One of the most beautiful shells in the
world is that of the famous targonaut.
Its owner is the only known shelltsh
that is not attached to the shell which it
occupies. Only the female possesses a
SHE'LL the male being much smaller and
leading very different sort of life. At
a certain period the male detaches from
his person a sort of arm which contains
the reproductive fluid. This arm floats
about on the surface of the sea, and any
female of the species who happens to come
along may appropriate it to her own use,
thus becoming the mother of family of
little argonauts. So far as naturalists
are aware, no such method is practised
by any other race of living creatures.
The most important use of the she'll of
the female seems to be as case for her
eggs, which she deposits in a coil of it.
The boat-like tenement floats on the sur
face of the water like fairy skiff, being
steadied by the arms of the owner extend
ed on either side, while water pumped in
at one end and out at the other propels
the craft.
In various parts of the world shells of
different kinds are used as fog horns,
lamps, vases and pipes short ebony
stem being inserted in the hole at the
apex of the spire. Some large and thin
shells serve the purpose of glass windows
in eastern countries. The shells of the
so-called pearl oyster, which is not a true
oyster, by the way, furnish the bulk of
the commercial mother-of- pearl of fine
quality, being worth from ten to twenty
cents pound. The main profit derived
from the pearl fishery of the Gulf of Cali.
fornia at the present day is from the sale
are shipped abroad. 1t is worth mention
ing in this connection that there is now
profitable market for ordinary oyster
smells, Tor making roads and in the man
ufacture of lime, and thousands of tons of
Them are disposed of annually in Balti-
more: % Until recently the oyster mer-
,hants were glad to pay to have the accu.
mutations of them removed
speaking sof remarkable mollusks,
should not be made of the So
,alled "Silkworm of the Sea- native to
me Medlterranean, which attaches itself
20 the bottom by rope of fibre SO beauti-
ul and delicate that it's golden threads
ire woven into all sorus of exquisite arti-
lies. The celebrated nautilus is, like the
srgonaut, cephalopod related to the cut
lefishes. The beauty of its shell, the
chambers of which are lined with mother
,f-pearl finer even than that of the pearl
OYSTER. gives it high price. 1t is cauobt
Usually in baited traps in the Indian
Ocean.
Biologists nowadays, exploring the
'oeks with linguistic hammer, occasional.
y come across certain gigantic relatives
If the nautilus-that is to say. the shells
which they left behind millions of vea1s
sgo. Some of the shells are perfectiv
straight and as much as twenty feet lon1
weighing several tons. Others are coiIeS
somewhat like the modern nautilus and
ire as big as cartwheels. In both cases