68 PEARLS [CH. 



impregnating' mussels, and that he offered to make 

 known the secret for the public benefit and use on 

 condition that the state would give him a suitable 

 reward \" The secret method seems to have been 

 the following : 



1st. A small hole was made in the mollusc shell ; 



2nd. A fine silver wire was inserted bearing at its 

 end a small rough fragment of limestone ; 



3rd. The artificial nucleus had to be kept near 

 the ends of the shell so as not to irritate too much 

 the animal's body; 



4th. The nucleus was kept away from the shell by 

 means of the silver wire, otherwise the pearls would 

 have been connected to the shell by nacre deposits. 



The mollusc used in the experiments of Linnaeus 

 was the fresh-water mussel. 



CHAPTER Yl 



A CEYLON PEARL FISHERY. 



Aisr account of a Ceylon pearl fishery will best 

 serve as an example of the oriental industry. The 

 pearl fishery of this part of the world is probably 

 of very great antiquity, and it was very likely carried 



1 Herdman, Presidential Address to the Linnean Soc, May 1905 

 (see Proc. L. S.). 



