70 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



pinna; but they are generally inferior ia size and 

 quality to those of the freshwater pearl-mussel, Unio 

 margaritiferus ; and Mr. Beckman, in his ' History of 

 Inventions/ states that real pearls are found under 

 the shield of the sea-hare (Aplysia), as has been ob- 

 served by Bohadsch, in his book ' De Animalibus 

 Marinis ' (Dresdas, 1761). Our Scotch pearl-fishery 

 has, within the last few years, been revived, and in 

 1860 Mr. Moritz Unger, a foreigner, on making a tour 

 through the districts where the pearl-mussel abounds, 

 found that the pearl-fishing was not altogether for- 

 gotten, many of the people having pearls in their pos- 

 session, of which they did not know the value. He 

 purchased all he could obtain ; consequently, in the 

 following year, many persons devoted their spare time 

 to pearl-fishing, and during the summer months made 

 as much as £8 to £10 weekly. The summer of 1862 

 was most favourable for fishing, owing to the dryness 

 of the season, and the average price was from £2 6s. 

 to 10s. ; £5 being a high price. They now fetch prices 

 varying from £5 to £20. The Queen purchased one 

 Scotch pearl for 40 guineas; others at high prices 

 have been bought by the Empress of the French and 

 the Duchess of Hamilton, and Mr. Unger had a neck- 

 lace of these pearls valued at £350.* In 1867, at the 

 September meeting of the ' Perthshire Society of 

 Natural Science/ attention was called to the pro- 

 bability of the ultimate extinction of the pearl-mussel 

 Unio margaritiferus in the rivers near Perth, owing to 

 the quantities destroyed in search of pearls, thousands 

 of shells being left on the banks of the rivers where 



* The ' Times/ December 24, 1863. 



