910 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, is the inner part of the 

 shell of the pearl-oyster or pearl-mussel. This is of a 

 brilliant and beautifully white colour, and is usually sepa- 

 rated from the external part by aqua-fortis, or the lapi- 

 dary's mill. 



Pearl-mussel shells are on this account an important 

 article of traffic to China and many parts of India, as well 

 as to the different countries of Europe. They are manu- 

 factured into beads, snuff-boxes, buttons, and spoons, 

 counters for card-players, and innumerable other articles. 

 The pearl-mussels are not considered good as food ; 

 though, after having been dried in the sun, they are some- 

 times eaten by the lower classes of people in the countries 

 near which they are found. 



The Oriental Pearl-Mussels (Mytilus Margaritiferus), 

 to which we are indebted for nearly all the pearls of com- 

 merce, have their principal habitations off the coasts of 

 Hindostan and Ceylon. The fishing usually commences 

 about the month of March, and the process is almost the 

 same as that of Pearl-Oyster fishing. When the mussels 

 are taken out of the boats, they are placed in heaps on the 

 shore, where they continue about ten days, till the animals 

 become quite putrid. They are then opened and searched 

 for pearls. One mussel sometimes contains many pearls, 

 a hundred and upwards, large and small ; and sometimes 

 a hundred mussels have been opened without yielding a 

 single pearl large enough to be of any value. The pearls 

 are sorted according to their size, by being passed through 

 large brass sieves, or through saucers with round holes in 

 the bottom. After having been sorted, they are drilled ; 

 and then washed in salt water, to prevent any stains which 

 might be left by the drilling. The arranging of them on 

 strings is considered the most difficult task of a pearl 



