So easily collected, arranged, and preserved, and withal so singular and graceful in form, and rich and various of tint, one cannot wonder that Shells have always had a conspicuous place in all museums, and other collections of natural history objects; neither can we feel surprised that a high value should have been set upon rare specimens; as much as a thousand pounds it is said has been given for the first discovered specimen of the Venus Dione; another shell called the Conus cedo nulli, is valued at three hundred pounds; and the Turbo scaloris, if large and perfect, is worth one hundred guineas; while the Cypræa aurantium, or Orange Cowry, if it has not a hole beaten through it, will fetch fifty guineas. It has been calculated that a complete collection of British Conchology is worth its weight in silver.
The following quotation is from “The Young Conchologist,” by Miss Roberts;—our readers will do well to peruse it attentively:—“We admit that shells are beautiful, and that they are admirably adapted to the exigencies of the wearers; but how shall we account for the endless diversity of shades and colours, varying from the sober coating of the garden snail, to the delicate and glowing tints which are diffused over some of the finer species, in the infinite profusion of undulations, clouds and spots, bands and reticulated figures, with which these admirable architects enrich the walls of their beautiful receptacles. The means of producing them must be sought for in the animals themselves. Their necks are furnished with pores replete with colouring fluid, which blends insensibly with the calcareous exudation already noticed, and thus occasions that exquisite variety in their testaceous coverings, which art attempts to emulate, but can never fully equal. Thus far is the result of observation and experiment. It now remains to account for the extraordinary fact that the stony exudations of testaceous animals condense only on those parts where they are essential to their welfare. But here investigation ends—the microscope has done its office. It seems as if material nature delighted to baffle the wisdom of her sons, and to say to the proud assertors of the sufficiency of human reason for comprehending the mysteries of creation and of Providence, ‘Thus far can you go, and no farther; even in the formation of a shell, or its insignificant inhabitant, your arrogant pretensions are completely humbled.’”
USES OF SHELLS.
In speaking of shells as ornaments, and objects worthy of our study and admiration, we have already mentioned some of their uses, for surely that which contributes to the intellectual improvement and innocent pleasure of mankind, is in its degree useful. But on the more narrow ground of utility, shells may also claim a high place in our estimation. To man in a barbarous and uncivilized state, they furnish the means of performing some of the most important operations of daily life, being extensively used as a substitute for iron. The savage frequently forms his knife, his hunting spear, and his fish-hook of hard shell. Lister relates that the inhabitants of Nicaragua, in South America, fasten a shell, called the Ostrea virginica, to a handle of wood, and use it as a spade. In North America the natives use a blue and white belt composed of shells called the Venus mercenaria, as a symbol of peace and unity, and there too the gorget of the chieftain’s war-dress is composed of the pearl-bearing mussel, called by naturalists Mytilus margaritiferus. Many African tribes use the Murex tritonis as a military horn, and a rare variety of this shell, which has the volutions reversed, is held sacred, and used only by the priests. Among the Friendly Islanders the Orange Cowry is a symbol of the highest dignity. The Money Cowry, (Cypræa moneta,) forms the current coin of many nations of Africa; and a certain number of these shells strung together, are considered by the slave-hunting chiefs, as an equivalent for so many black-skinned brothers, whom they sell into hopeless bondage.
Among nations, too, in a high state of civilization, shells are often used for economical as well as ornamental purposes. To say nothing of mother-of-pearl, which is converted into so many articles useful as well as pretty, scallop, or oyster shells, are frequently employed as scoops by druggists, grocers, and the like; and in the country the dairy-maid, with the larger kinds of the same shell, skims her milk, and slices her butter; while sometimes by the poor people of both towns and villages, the deeper specimens are converted into oil lamps. One very important use, my young readers will understand, when I speak of a ragged urchin, who shouts to every passer-by—‘Please remember the grotto!’
In ancient times, we are told, the people of Athens recorded their votes on public occasions, by marks upon a shell, thus Pope says—
“He whom ungrateful Athens would expel,
At all times just, but when he signed the shell;”
in allusion to this custom, of which we are reminded by such English words as Attestation, a certifying, a bearing witness; Testify, to give evidence; Testament, a will, or written disposal of property, etc.; all having their origin, it appears, in the Latin testa—a shell. In ancient poetry we find the word Testudo used to signify a musical instrument, also called a lyre or lute, which instrument, according to tradition, was first made by passing strings, and straining them tightly, over the shell of a tortoise. So the poet Dryden, describing those who listened to the music drawn from this simple invention, says—
“Less than a God they thought there could not dwell,