78 THK ECONOMIC MOLJXSCA OF ACADIA. 



Pearls of some beauty are not infrequent in these Mussels, 

 but they are rarely large or perfect enough to be of value. 

 Forbes and Hanley say, — "They are commonly small, ill- 

 •colored, and of little value, yet have been at various times 

 much sought for." They have brought fi'om one shilling 

 and sixpence to four shillings per ounce. In the "First 

 Keport on the Fauna of Liverpool Bay," p. 241, we are told, 

 — " Some years ago. large quantities of Mussels were raked 

 up in Conway Bay, and boiled in huts on the east shore to get 

 .seed pearls. These were bought by a traveller at four shillings 

 per ounce. A woman could earn twelve shillings per week at 

 this harvest. The trade has ceased." Sometimes the whole 

 interior of the shell is covered with little pearl-like excres- 

 cences, the result of the efforts of the animal to protect 

 itself from a boring sponge. 



Simmonds, in "Commercial Products of the Sea," tells 

 us of the shells, — " When polished, they are made into pretty 

 needle-books and scent-bottle holders, earrings, crosses, pins 

 and pin-cushions. They are mounted on marble as paper 

 weights, and are used as a receptacle for gold and silver paint 

 for artists. The Maories of New Zealand employ Mussel 

 shells as tweezers to eradicate the hair from their faces." 

 Mr. Ingersoll says the American Indians also used them for 

 the latter purpose. 



The shells are also spread on Oyster-beds by cultivators, as 

 .a support to which the young Oysters may attach themselves. 



On Mussel Culture. 



As in the case of the Oyster, the demand for Mussels in 

 Europe is far too great to be supplied from natural beds. 

 Flxtensive cultivation is the only remedy, and in this France 

 leads all other countries. A full treatment of the subject, 

 for which we have not space here, will be found by those 

 interested, in the volumes of the Fisheries Exhibition Litera- 

 ture and other works quoted below. A very brief outline 

 ■must suffice here. There are two modes of culture practised 

 in Europe; one known as the British method, in which young 

 Jflussels are taken from salt or nearly salt water and trans- 



