PEARL AND PEARL-SHELL FLSHERIES. 211 



"Manilla. — 419 cases offered and 234 cases sold, fair to good bold £"] 17s. 6d. to _^8 5s., 

 chicken £ii 2s. 6d. to £"], and bold defective 87s. 6d. to 95s., and broken pieces £^ 5s. to 

 ^5 I OS. per cwt. 



" Penang. — 77 packages offered and 60 sold, ordinary heavy bold and medium ^6 12S. 6d. 

 to £"], fair ditto £"] los., medium and chicken £'] to £•] 2s. 6d., and wormy and defective 75s. to 

 80s. per cwt. 



"Macassar. — 107 packages offered and 74 sold, heavy bold and medium ^7 2s. 6d. to £1 los., 

 yellow ditto £"] , ordinary 3'ellow chicken ^6 los., one lot fine chicken £() 15s., and wormy and 

 defective 75s. to 80s. per cwt. 



" Shark's Bay. — 1,051 packages offered and 928 sold, good stout 55s. to 05s., fair 35s. to 42s., 

 ordinary thin 30s. to 33s., and common los. 6d. to 25s. per cwt. 



"Panama. — 865 bags offered, and only about 150 sold, fair to good 50s. to 55s., and ordinary 

 defective 40s. to 44s. per cwt. 



"Black Edged. — 1,253 packages offered and mostly sold; Tahiti, good stout bold £() 15s., 

 good medium _;^io 7s. 6d. to _^io 17s. 6d., small £<^ 12s. 6d. to £<^ 17s. 6d., thin small £■], small 

 and oyster _^5 los. to _;^5 15s., oyster 80s. to 82s. 6d., oyster and broken _^^5 5s. to ^5 15s., pieces 

 £^ los. to £~j 15s., and pickings 40s. to 57s. 6d. per cwt. Good bold Auckland £^ ys. 6d. to 

 _j^5 los., medium ^^5 2s. 6d., and small 77s. to 85s. per cwt. Bold Fiji sold at 67s. to 75s., 

 medium 65s., and small 50s. to 52s. 6d. Mixed medium and small Banda sold at 45s. to 49s. per 

 cwt. 



"GREEN SNAIL SHELLS in large suppl}-, and 1,1 10 packages were offered and 961 sold at 

 lower prices, especially for bold, which were 3d. to 4d. per lb. lower. Fine bold Singapore sold 

 at lod. per lb., ordinary to good 7^d. to 8id., ordinary heavy ditto 6ld. to 6|d., medium 6jd. to 

 6|d., and small ifd. to 2|d. per lb. Good bold Penang sold at lod. to iid., boldish medium 8l<i. 

 to 8id., small ditto 58d. to 6id., and small 28d. to 3d. per lb. 



"JAPAN EAR SHELLS. — 524 cases offered and about half sold at very steady rates, in some 

 cases dearer for fine. Fine trimmed 72s. 6d. per cwt., good ditto 55s. to 57s. 6d., fair 35s. to 

 39s., and low to ordinary rough lis. 6d. to 29s. per cwt. 



"MUSSEL SHELLS. — 382 offered and 259 sold at rather dearer prices. Fair small with 

 some medium and bold sold at 45s. to 47s. 6d., and good bold at 60s. per cwt. 



"HENRY KIVER & Co., 



" Brokers." 



The present state of the technical nomenclature of the mother-of-pearl shells is by no 



means satisfactory. The single name of Meleagrina margaritifera is indifferently applied, in 



both standard conchological works and the most important museum collections, to undoubtedly 



two, if not three or four, distinct species. Associating the large white shell, with its 



yellow-edged, pale- pink, iridescent, and extra-tropical, dwarfed modifications already referred to 



F E 2 



