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* ''[[Dentalium glaucarena]]'' <small>[[Richard Dell|Dell]], 1953</small>
* ''[[Dentalium glaucarena]]'' <small>[[Richard Dell|Dell]], 1953</small>
* ''[[Dentalium gouldii]]'' <small>[[W.H. Dall|Dall]], 1889</small> gould tuskshell
* ''[[Dentalium gouldii]]'' <small>[[W.H. Dall|Dall]], 1889</small> gould tuskshell
* ''[[Dentalium inversum]]'' <small>Deshayes, 1825</small>
* ''[[Dentalium inversum]]'' <small>[[Gérard Paul Deshayes|Deshayes]], 1825</small>
* ''[[Dentalium laqueatum]]'' <small>A. E. Verrill, 1885</small> reticulate tuskshell
* ''[[Dentalium laqueatum]]'' <small>A. E. Verrill, 1885</small> reticulate tuskshell
* ''[[Dentalium liodon]]'' <small>Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897</small>
* ''[[Dentalium liodon]]'' <small>Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897</small>

Revision as of 04:36, 16 February 2009

Dentalium
Top: Dentalium entalis
bottom: Dentalium tarentinum
Scientific classification
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Genus:
Dentalium

Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text.

Dentalium is a genus of tooth shells or tusk shells, marine scaphopod molluscs in the family Dentaliidae[1].

Human use

Native Americans

The shells of Dentalium neohexagonum are known to have been used by the Chumash people at least as early as circa 1000 AD, in the Morro Bay area.[2]

18th century European use

In pre-modern medicine, these shells were considered an excellent alkali, and apothecaries would pulverize them for use in several preparations. The shell used for this purpose, was described by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in London in the 1700s, as being "of a tubular, or conical form, about 3 inches long; of a shining, greenish white; hollow; light, and divided lengthwise by parallel lines, running from top to bottom. It is about the thickness of a feather, and bears some resemblance to a canine tooth." However, it was considered at that time to be very rare, and in lieu of that, another shell was usually substituted. This was described as a multi-colored shell found in the sand where the tide had fallen; this shell was not channeled, or fluted.[3] The large green shell to which the writer first refers must have been either Dentalium elephantinum or Dentalium aprinum, both of which are large and greenish, and live in the Indo-Pacific zone. The other shell was presumably another species, possibly Dentalium entale, which is native to Great Britain.

Species

Species within the genus Dentalium include:

References

  1. ^ "dentalium". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Hogan, 2008
  3. ^ Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)