380 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



purposes are received from Manila and Singapore, and of 

 late years from Western Australia. So variable is the 

 supply and demand, that this description of pearl shell has 

 been sold within the last 50 years at almost all rates, 

 between 60 and ^"600 per ton. The " scales " (as the two 

 flat pieces are termed which are riveted to the central plate 

 of the haft of the knife) have to be ground down on stones, 

 singly and by hand, to a level surface and the required 

 thickness. This tedious process aids in making shell a 

 costly covering for cutlery, and as the substance is both 

 hard and brittle, when the handles are fluted or carved, the 

 price is of course still further enhanced. 



The numerous visitors to the Paris International Exhi- 

 bition of 1867 could not fail to be struck w r ith the mosaic 

 pictures in mother-of-pearl, shown in the Siamese Court, 

 representing the idol Buddha, the perfection and origin- 

 ality of which excited the envy of amateurs. The King 

 of Siam, when informed of this fact, commanded the 

 artists of his palace to execute two other mosaics ; and in 

 order to render them more agreeable to European taste, 

 they were made to represent the Saviour, and were pre- 

 sented at the close of the Exhibition to the Empress 

 Eugenie, in order that they might adorn some Catholic 

 chapel. 



The commerce in mother-of-pearl is extensive in 

 Cochin China, where this substance is much employed 

 for inlaying choice articles of furniture. It is obtained 

 mostly in the Bay of Tirwar. Some of the other French 

 colonies in India supply small quantities of mother-of- 

 pearl. The shells of the true pearl oysters of Ceylon 

 (Avicula margaritiferd) are too thin to be of use in 

 manufactures for their nacre, although importations have 

 from time to time been made here, in the hope of utilizing 



