THE MUSEUM. 



^^i 



over his head, but eventually, after 

 several hard tussles, brought him out 

 of the water with large boat hooks. 

 He put up a hard light, but had to 

 succumb for the aid of science. 



While watching a party of men re- 

 moving the fry from a lot of fish that 

 had just been brought into the dock, 

 we noticed some small black objects 

 sticking to the heavy planks of the 

 pier. They were covered with spines, 

 which were moving about, raising and 

 lowering, as the water moved through. 

 Here indeed was our first living Sea 

 Urchin. Although having handled 

 many hundreds from all parts of the 

 workl, this was the first ever seen 

 alive in its native haunts. The temp- 

 tation was too great. We had to have 

 him and several of his brothers and 

 sisters in the vicinity. 



To be continued 



A Brief History of the Gathering: 



of Fresh Water Pearls in the 



United States. 



I'.Y GEORGIA F. KUNZ. 

 PEARL-HUNTING AS A PROFESSION. 



As to the principal occupations of 

 the pearl-hunters, or pearlers as they 

 are called, this was answered by sixty- 

 four (Qtj\) papers. Of these thirteen 

 13, say merely that their occupations 

 are various, or that people of all call- 

 inSs are included. The remaining fif- 

 ty-one ^51; papers state more or less 

 definitely, as follows: Farmers and 

 farmhands, 231 ; laborers, 12; fisher- 

 men, 8, and as making pearl-hunting 

 a regular business, 7. Three papers 

 speak of loafers, and one or two of 

 each specified as follows: Stockmen, 

 hunters, trappers, tradesmen, rousta- 

 bouts, boys and hegroes, and the 

 Maryland papers mention oystermen. 

 The term "laborers" as used in 

 those answers probably means, in 

 most cases, farm laborers, as stated in 

 a few instances, and the indication is 

 that two-thirds of the pearl-hunting is 

 done by agricultural people who search 

 the streams when not otherwise occu- 



pied— "in off times," as two or three 

 of the papers say. Fishermen are 

 naturally much in preponderance, as 

 they gather the shells for bait. 



METHODS OF EXTRACTING PEARLS. 



The in(]uiry as to the mode of ex- 

 tracting the pearls when found receiv- 

 ed seventy-two (72) answers. A large 

 proportion of these are general, mere- 

 ly saying "by hand," "with the fin- 

 gers," etc., but about one-third give 

 more or less description of the process. 

 When the shell has been opened, the 

 pearls, if loose and near the edge may 

 be readily seen, and sometimes even 

 drop out. These are, of course, eas- 

 ily taken ont with the thumb and fin- 

 ger, or if small, with tweezers or on 

 the point of a knife. If more embed- 

 ded in the mantle and gills, they are 

 detected by feeling for them, passiffg 

 or rubbing the thumb or finger along 

 and around each valve and about the 

 region of the hinge. The pearls may 

 then be pressed or squeezed out "like 

 the seed of a cherry," but if attached 

 to the shell, must be removed with a 

 pair of nippers. Care is required in 

 opening, not to scratch or injure the 

 pearl. A very few describe different 

 methods; thus one Arkansas pearler 

 speaks of breaking the shells, and a 

 Florida pearler tells of piling the mus- 

 sels in a dry place to decay, the Ori- 

 ental method of opening the true pearl 

 oyster, and finding the pearls in the 

 emptied shells later. This method is 

 evidently only practicable where little 

 or no "pearl-hunting" is generally 

 carried on, and the pile of shells would 

 not be liable to inspection and .search 

 by other parties than the original gath- 

 erers. 



TREATMENT OF PEARLS WHEN FOUND. 



Concerning the treatment of pearls 

 when found, definite answers were re- 

 ceived to fifty-two papers, which in 

 some respects show considerable di- 

 versity of usage. The pearls are first 

 thoroughly washed to remove all ad- 

 hering animal matter, and two papers 



