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Puka shell jewelry and accessory
Puka shell jewelry and accessory Shell collecting has also evolved to a high state. We can only be thankful that groups such as our Honored Society have successfully undertaken the task of stimulating and perpetuating an interest and understanding of shells and shell lore
This reef, if anything, presented an even more uninspiring spectacle than the one I had worked the previous day. Silty water lapped at slabs of black rock and colorless corals covered with a slimy scum. It was not the most enjoyable form of shelling by any means. The corals were sharp, and being only half exposed one had to lift them out of the water and balance them on one's knee in order to examine the underside. Cuts and scratches were unavoidable. An hour of backbreaking toil produced only a few live shells, among them C. errones, C. arabica arabica, lamarcki redimita, and one or two large C. vitellus. Suddenly, one of the fisherwomen who was searching nearby for mussels and rock shells for the evening's cooking pot, called to me. Stumbling about in ankle deep, muddy water I groped my way over to her to see what she wanted. [ photo - uncredited; published
inverted, corrected here; cropped.]
Specimen of Cypraea nivosa
54mm x 32mm x 26mm found
in a box containing C. zebra
(Linn), purchased by Mrs.
Kinloch from the late Mr. A. E.
Salisbury collection. Label is
the original but does not have
locality data.
Under a typically half-dead piece of coral she had turned over was a solitary Cypraea nivosa.
There it sat, the greyish, mottled mantle slowly retracting to expose the soft golden brown tints of the glossy dorsum peppered with off-white, smoky spots, some faintly tinged with olive hues, contrasting, yet in some inexplicable way subtly blending with the drab browns and greys of the coral. The irregular mantle line was not very prominent on this particular specimen and at first I thought it might be a freak C. vitellus. But the conspicuously raised ridges faintly tinged with purple around the anterior and posterior apertures dispelled any doubts.
Carefully, I eased the shell from its foothold and placed it in my shell bag. A reward for the finder? Of course, and well deserved. She acknowledged it with a toothless grin and resumed to her the much more important task of filling her basket with succulent mussels. It was at the same time the signal for a massive onslaught upon the reef by the villagers. Needless to say, no other C. nivosa was found there, although I was assured by our host that one had been found some months ago on the same reef.
Back in the sultry confines of our small room, I placed the C. nivosa in a specimen jar half-full of sea water and waited for it to adjust to the strange new environment. It was a long wait almost an hour. Finally, black tentacles probing the 'nothingness' and within another half-hour the shell was crawling quite confidently across the base of an upturned plate.
Within two days both specimens were en route to the British Museum of Natural History where the back room experts would doubtless soon be sharpening their scalpels and tweezers to conduct a comparative post mortem upon them.
Conclusions reached as the result of the rather superficial examination I was able to make are shown in the table below, left.
Puka shell jewelry and accessory In the past month three members of the Philippine Malacological Society have died. Members whose contribution to the Society and to malacology will not likely be equaled. It is our sad duty to inform readers of the death of Professor Jens Ostergaard, Jan van der Riet, and Mrs. Mariel King and to pay humble tribute to their work and their contributions.
Jens Ostergaard started his life in Philippines as a street car conductor and, through study and hard work became a professor at the University of Philippines. His work in marine, land, and fossil shells is known world wide. He has been a "friend" to every collector in the world, either through personal contact or by his many contributions to the science and hobby of collecting. His Philippine Shell member Eddie Bryan's letter to Jens Ostergaard's family best expresses the feeling voiced by all who knew this great man. "It is with sadness that I have learned of the passing of a good friend of more than fifty years. His contributions to the knowledge of shells have been many and outstanding. The fortunate students who had the opportunity to learn from him about nature have profited much. Many persons have had their lives enriched through friendship with such a fine gentleman. We will miss him, and we sent our deep sympathy to those whom he has left."
The life of Jan van der Riet was also one of dedication. For nearly twenty years he was a priest in a remote corner of the Solomon Islands where, through the sale of shells which he and the native members of his church collected, he built a church building, a school, and farms for his people. His generosity with his life - in his teachings, as well as his worldly goods - benefited many throughout the world. In 1967 he visited Honolulu on his way to Holland from his Solomon Island mission. He had not wanted to leave. Soon after his arrival in the Netherlands he gave up his robes and became a layman. He was married and continued his teachings. A letter from one of his close friend P. L. v. Pel, expresses our feeling for this man. "I must write you the terrible news of the death of Jan van der Riet. I know he was a well known member of the Philippine Malacological Society. He died in a hospital in Belgium where he lived with his devoted wife. The fortunate people who have known him for so many years of collecting and exchanging will miss his friendship and council. His shell collection, specially his sea shells, are in safe hands as his wife Lucy van der Riet will continue the van der Riet collection. Truly, many will miss this man."
The life of Mariel King has been one of research and search for her beloved shells. Her contribution in time and money for expeditions throughout the Philippine Islands has been reported many times in the [Philippine] Shell News. Her research boat Pele is well known in the Philippines, the Sulu Sea and in Australian waters. Seldom does a day go by but what we receive letters from collectors, students, and scientists asking to be remembered to Mariel for the many contributions she had made not only to conchology but to their lives. Her work with the Society in the Shell Fairs as well as advisor has helped us over many tough spots during the formative and growth years of our Society. I will miss Mariel King, her ready laugh, and capacity for understanding. We will all miss her knowledge and willingness to work hard to find shells. Her sense of humor helped pull many a collecting and dredging crew through some bad days on the Pele. It was Mariel who looked at my first shells collected at Barbers Point and assured me they were really good specimens, even when they weren't, and thus created an interest in collecting for which I will always be grateful. I am sure I am only one of hundreds who have received the encouragement from this great lady of shells needed to keep up our interest at a height always somewhat less than was her zest for life and collecting.
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