MALLEUS. 271 



The Malleus resembles a hammer in one species, and 

 the name was selected on account of the lateral lobes at the 

 base of the shell giving it the appearance of an inverted 

 hammer. This, however, only refers to the type of the genus. 

 A peculiar wing-shaped shell, in the typical species of 

 Avicula, attracted the attention of naturalists, long previous 

 to the time of Linnaeus ; that naturalist, however, included 

 the My till with them. 



The Avicula margantifera is celebrated for the true oriental 

 pearl, the Margaron, or globe of light, from which, and the 

 Persian name Mervarid, which means the offspring of light, 

 was derived Margarite, its appellation in southern Europe. 



Pliny, and after him Solinus, struck with the similarity of 

 the pearl to a drop of dew, and unable to account satisfactorily 

 for its formation, imagined that the pearl-oyster rose every 

 morning to the surface of the water, and expanded his shell 

 to imbibe the dew of heaven, which assumed the texture, 

 shape, and colour of a real pearl. This elegant hypothesis 

 was probably suggested by the various transformations 

 observable in nature, — such as the conversion of the nee- 

 tareous juice of flowers into wax and honey. 



Wild and extravagant opinions were advanced* to account 

 for the formation of the pearl by different European natu- 



