194 UTILIZATION OP MINUTE LIFE. 



saw a pearl bought in Ireland for fifty shillings, that 

 weighed thirty-six carats, and was valued at 40," etc. 

 In 1842 letters from Norway mentioned that 

 there had been found in the bed of the great stream 

 that runs through Jedderen, in the district of 

 Christiansand, and which, from the excessive heats, 

 became dry, a great number of fresh- water mussels 

 containing pearls, some of which were so fine that 

 they were valued at 60 a piece. At the beginning 

 of the seventeenth century, when Norway was 

 annexed to Denmark, the Government took the 

 pearl-fishery of this stream into its own hands, and 

 the finest pearls were sent to Copenhagen to be 

 deposited in the Crown treasury. After this the 

 produce of the fishery became so low that it did not 

 pay the expenses, and it was abandoned. 



Unio margaritiferus is very plentiful in the river 

 Conway, about a mile above the ancient bridge of 

 Llanrwst, near the domain of Gwydir, where the 

 water is beautifully clear, rapid, and deep. It may 

 be taken from this spot up to Bettws-y-Coed.* 



I will terminate what I have to say of these pearls 

 by a word upon their artificial production in the shell- 

 fish itself. The finest pearls are always seen plunging 

 into the body of the animal that inhabits the shell. 

 I have remarked above that the pearl is a product of 



* " It was probably from this spot," says Mr. Garner, " that 

 Sir Eichard Wynne obtained the pearl which he presented to the 

 Queen of Charles II." 



