The Editors' Mailbatg

The New Caledonian

Shell That Killed

If you want to find out how many conchologists there are interested in Pacific shells, you need only to pub lish a photograph of a specimen and give it the wrong name. In December PIM we reported the death of a New Caledonian after being stung by a member of the cone shell family. We published a picture of a shell, the photo having come with the article from our New Cale donian correspondent. It was stated that the shell was Conus geographus.

Mrs. Isobel Pert, of Madang, New Guinea, however, says that it wasn’t a geographus at all that appeared in the photo, but a Conus striatus. We have checked with Dr. D. F. Mc- Michael, Curator of Molluscs, at the Australian Museum, Sydney, who backs Mrs. Pert up. Our picture, he says, is definitely of a specimen of Conus striatus.

All very academic, of course, in view of the fact that the fellow’s dead, anyway. But not entirely.

Geographus is known to inflict a poisonous sting; it is suspected that striatus might also do this, but there has been no absolute proof that it does. If this New Caledonian died from the sting of the sort of shell shown in our illustration, it is of scientific interest.

But if the natives just brought in any old shell to our correspondent and said, “It was a shell just like this,” it could turn out to have been a geographus that killed him after all.

We are now getting some more in formation from our correspondent, so that readers, in and out of museums, may have their minds put at rest, one way or the other.

And Some That

Are Worth Risks

In the meantime—except in cer tain circumstances —it would be as well to give all cone shells a wide berth. Mrs. Pert gives us a list of other conus varieties— marmoreus, tulipa, aulicus and textile —which are all poisonous, although she seems to hunt around NG reefs for them.

The “certain circumstances” in which it isn’t a good thing to leave these shells, is when collecting for

American millionaires. Then 1 worth the risk, Mr. E. L. Mauji of Minnesota, also stirred up by' December article (although 4 doesn’t say anything about our 4 graphus being a striatus ) reports several US servicemen lost t lives in New Guinea from O aulicus and Conus textile. He s< us also, a coloured picture of O gloria-maria “the rarest shell ini world”.

There is a standing offer fc five-inch, perfect specimen of one, by one of the Du Pont mil aires who wants to put it in the million museum he has donate*

Wilmington, Maryland.

There are only 23 of these si in all the world’s collections, i of them ex-Dutch East Indies w; and in Dutch museums. Only ; of the 23 known specimens are feet—most of the others are f;‘ or chipped. During the war, specimen was picked up on “Northern shore” of NG and on the “southern shore”.

Another rare shell of the To Strait area is the cowrie, Cy valentia, specimens of which ' been found off Warrior Reef, n of Thursday Island. These will H $l,OOO of any millionaire coiled money.

It seems to us that there chance here for some of our collecting friends in the SW Ps to make a lucky buck. The co photo of gloria-maria shows a tapering shell, with a more elong “spire” than our striatus show' is white with an all-over brow\ gold pattern like tightpacked lei; wise lines of scribble.

Gimmick Island

Wanted—Cheap

Anybody in the Pacific got an lump of mud and mangroves they’d like to sell American into

as a publicity gimmick?

If so, the advertising mam National Bank of Oregon, PO 1 3457, Portland B, Oregon, I would like to hear from you. li] plaining the idea to us, he say wants the island in connection the opening of their new building. He wants to offer the i;i as a prize in a competition and! like to be able to display the of sale (or lease) of same,

photograph, location particulars?

til vial of sand from the island ugh “actually, any coral sand do”). s believed that the chances of vinner ever seeing the island be 100,000 to 1, so the il owner could retain cultiva ights. Although sale, or lease, have to be legal, for practical ies the island could be worth waterless, uninhabited and very Tom Carter, the advertising er, thinks that as he wouldn’t ting very much of an island, ything that goes with it, the ise price wouldn’t have to be ligh—say, no more than $l5O. ends his letter by saying that he surface, this request will ikely seem ridiculous to you”.

I —we’ll put it this way; We imehow don’t seem to be able the connection between some wing the deeds of a worthless islet and attracting visitors ank in Portland, Oregon.

PIM readers will remember, do, the fiasco of “Ava-Ava” in Fiji, which was won by a American in a limerick com i around 1957-58. The winner friend arrived to take posses nd became very unhappy—as e Fiji Visitors’ Bureau which 3t itself mixed up in it and by getting Fiji and the whole

British Commonwealth some very bad publicity.

Triple-Headed Query

Double-headed and triple-headed coconut palms are something we have ceased to have any real interest in, since we had such a sprouting of them some time back. But we received a note during the month from Mr. R. A.

Lever, of Leatherhead, Surrey, Eng land, enclosing a photograph of a triple-headed palm photographed in 1936 on Ruavatu Estate, Guadalcanal, BSIP. What Mr. Lever wants to know is whether it is still there. Any body know?

New Guinea Womens 7 Club

Also in the Mailbag, a note from the New Guinea Women’s Club of Sydney giving us this year’s date for the remembrance service for the sink ing of the Jap. POW ship Montevideo Maru, with its load of hundreds of pre-war residents. A wreath will be placed on the Sydney Cenotaph at 10 a.m. on June 29, and morning tea will follow in the club rooms at the Feminist Club, 77 King Street.

Annual general meeting of the New Guinea Women’s Club will be held there also at 10.30 a.m. on July 27.