1 84 



THE MUSEUM. 



speak of using alcohol to complete the 

 cleansing. After this the essential 

 point in keeping or carrying them is 

 to prevent injury to the surface from 

 friction, and the majority of those 

 who describe what is done, tell of 

 wrapping in cotton (14), or soft paper 

 (7), cloth, flannel or silk; several 

 speak of drying them, or keeping them 

 dry. But others would keep them in 

 a liquid — six specifying a bottle of wa- 

 ter, and one sweet oil or coal oil. 

 Several speak of putting them into a 

 bottle, but with no accounts of its 

 contents, or whether even dry, though 

 Indiana No. i mentions cotton in a 

 bottle, and hence in the cases just re- 

 ferred to, it is impossible to judge 

 what is the probable meaning. Two 

 papers mention keeping pearls in 

 starch, and one "in Irish potato." 

 The effect of sunlight is curiously al- 

 luded to by two papers, the former 

 stating that the pearls should be kept 

 from it, and the latter that they should 

 be kept in it. 



Six Tenessee papers make interest- 

 ing reference to "peeling" dull and 

 unpromising pearls, merely by saying 

 that this is sometimes done "with a 

 sharp knife," and a nice pearl is ob- 

 tained thereby. Alcohol, whiting, 

 chamois, leather, etc. , -are mentioned, 

 as employed, to produce a good sur- 

 face of lustre. Two other papers al- 

 lude to polishing or cleaning pearls, 

 one specifying that it is done "with 

 Irish potato." Two papers say noth- 

 ing under this head of treatment, save 

 that there is no way to improve na- 

 ture. 



{To In- continued.) 



Exploring Coral Reefs. 



An interesting preliminary report 

 of the scientific investigations by the 

 Agassiz expedition in the Fiji Islands 

 has just been brought to Sydney, New 

 South Wales, and from there to San 

 Francisco. The report was written 

 by Prof. E. C. Andrews, who led the 

 expedition. It states that the pro- 



gress of baring through the resf at 

 Fannafuti i^ very rapid. The explor- 

 ers have secured several rare speci- 

 mens of coral. The most important 

 undertaking of the expedition in the 

 matter of Crater Lake exploration 

 was the trip of Profs. Sawyer and An- 

 drews to Tavinni and its crater lake, 

 2,800 feet above the sea level. 

 The start for the lake was made over 

 Razor Back, that led them 3,000 feet 

 above the sea, and from which height 

 they could get a fine view of the lake. 

 The ascent was made with the great- 

 est difficulty and much suffering on 

 their part. The tropical vegetation 

 to the edge of the crater was marvel- 

 ous in its density. The report says 

 that the growth was so dense that at 

 midday, while cutting paths toward 

 the summit, the sun was entirely ob- 

 scured, the effect being the same as in 

 a forest when the sun is down and its 

 refracted rays hav all but vanished. 

 In some parts it was pitch dark, and 

 their path had to be changed to places 

 which were less hampered by brush 

 and closely interwoven branches over- 

 head. 



Passing through this belt into a less 

 wooded part of the mountain ihey 

 made their way through iiuiu holes 

 which brought them to the crater's 

 edge. From there to ihe level ul the 

 lake was a hard climb down the steep 

 hillside covered with decayed vegeta- 

 tion, A swamp lay between them and 

 the clear water. The two professors 

 sank to their hips in thi; muck, and 

 the stench from the ground was al- 

 most overpowering. It was noon 

 when they landed o:: a piece of dry 

 ground at deep water. Thn lake it- 

 self is blue and clear, but sounding 

 lines failed to find bottom even when 

 600 feet of cord had been paid out. 

 Numerous specimens of great scientific 

 value were discovered. 



The expedition next goes from Ta- 

 vinni to Mango, where there is a crat- 

 er whose rim is a raised coral reef. 



