The Chank Shells - Family Turbinellidae

THE CHANK SHELLS - FAMILY TURBINELLIDAE. Shells large, heavy, ventricose, smooth or tuberculated; columellar plaits transverse, near middle, far apart; aperture long; operculum thick, claw-like, with terminal nucleus. Animal shy, sluggish in movements. A small tropical family, allied to the Buccinidx and Fusidx.

Genus TURBINELLA, Lam.

Shell mostly fusiform, heavy; columella bearing one to five compressed plaits; epidermis horny or fibrous; operculum horny, pointed, small; surface of shell ornamented with a great variety of sculpture and colouring.

Several species are large-sized shells, qualifying for rank among the molluscan nobility. They have characters of Murex and Voluta joined.

The Pear Turbinella (T. pyrum, Lam.) was named by Linnxus Voluta pyrum. It has the characteristic folds on the columella which was his basis for thus classifying it. Three blade like plaits wind across the middle of the columella. The inner lip flares widely above. The outer lip is plain and thin. The canal is long and straight. The swollen body whorl is keeled, and coronated at the shoulder. The spire is depressed, and has a knobbed apex. The surface is light coloured, spotted with brown, under the olive-green epidermis; the lining is orange red. Young shells are brightest. Length, 4 to 7 inches.

Habitat.— Ceylon.

Besides being the type of its genus, the Pear Turbinella is the Chank or Shankh, the sacred shell of the Hindus, the national emblem of the Kingdom. of Travancore. The images of the god Vishnu always carry a chank shell in one hand. The Vedas were stolen by the giant chank shell, according to the legend, and Vishnu took the form of a fish that he might go down and recover 76 The Chank Shells the lost books and destroy the thieving mollusk. Every Hindu worships the sacred shell at the beginning of every prayer; other wise his offering would not be received.

The chank fisheries of Ceylon and vicinity have great com mercial importance. Divers bring up the "green chanks," alive and still invested with their green covering. These have perfect shells and bring the highest prices. They are shipped to Calcutta whence they are distributed through the ordinary commercial channels. At one time the chank fisheries of Ceylon yielded the Government a revenue of £4,000 per annum for divers' licenses alone. Six hundred divers were employed there. The value of

the shells shipped into Calcutta and Madras in some years reached 5,000 sterling.

The Hindu artists carve and otherwise ornament chank shells; then they are suspended as oil vessels for the illumination of the temples. A reversed or left-handed specimen is worth its weight in gold. These rare shells are particularly revered in India, Siam, China and in Ceylon. The Chinese priests keep these curiously ornamented sinistral shells as sacred vessels in the pagodas, and employ them only on special occasions. Medicine is administered to the sick from them. The oil for anointing the Emperor is kept in one of these vessels awaiting the next coronation.

Most of the chanks are used in the manufacture of bracelets, armlets and bangles, an industry that centres at Dacca. A rude saw, operated by feet and hands both, cuts the shell into narrow rings or segments of circles. These are polished, painted, graved and inlaid with precious metals and gems. Elaborateness of ornamentation is seen also where cheaper materials, tinsel, spangles and glass beads, are employed. The Hindu women wear these bangles in great numbers on arms and ankles. After death they are buried with their wearers.

Smooth chank shells are used to put a high polish upon paper and glazed cloth; their weight and smoothness adapt them for such work, in skilled hands. The "button" is cut from the top, and strung as a bead, or "krantah," into necklaces. These are worn by all the Sepoy soldiers in the East India service.

The Artichoke Turbinella (T. scolymus, Gmel.) is the giant of this genus. Its turreted spire bears a series of six varices, the strongest on the last whorl, which gives this ponderous fusiform shell a distinct hexagonal form when viewed from above. 77 The Chank Shells exterior is yellowish white, under a thin, fibrous, olive epidermis. The columella and interior are flesh pink. Length, 8 to to inches. Habitat.— Brazilian coast.

Vasum muricatum, Born., is a related form, stouter, armed with hollow sharp tubercles on the shoulder of each whorl, and three rows near the base. Length, 3 to 6 inches. Colour white, lined with pink.

Habitat.— Florida Keys, West Indies, Panama.

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