MYTILID^E. — MUSSEL. 75 



river and sold as food.* The valves of TJnio ttentsi- 

 nensts, the Ko-fen of the Chinese, are used by them 

 as a powder in medicine, and occasionally as one of the 

 ingredients in pills, as a substitute for pearls.f 



The pearl-mussels Dipsa plicatus, and the Alasmo- 

 dontcp, both belonging to the family Unionidce, are used 

 for the artificial production of pearls in China. The 

 art of artificial pearl-making is of great antiquity. 

 The Chinese attribute it to a native of Hutchefu, 

 named Ye-jin-Yang, who lived in the thirteenth cen- 

 tury. His memory is still honoured by those who 

 practise the art, and there is a temple especially 

 dedicated to him. There is a large manufactory of 

 these artificial pearls in the neighbourhood of Canton, 

 and at Hutchefu, near the river Ning-Po. In the 

 months of April and May the Dipsas, and Alasmodontce, 

 are furnished with matrices of metal, placed between 

 the shell and the mantle of the fish. In one year they 

 are incrustated with the nacre; but sometimes they are 

 left longer to obtain a thicker coating. Thus are pro- 

 duced the little figures of idols with which the Chinese 

 ornament their hats and caps. J The valves of Dipsa 

 plicatus are used also for weighing grains of rice, &c. 



In the north-western part of Australia, a freshwater 

 mussel forms a staple article of food, while in the 

 south-western part of the continent the natives will 

 not touch them, but regard them with a superstitious 



Collectorum,' auctore, R. P. Heude, S. J. 'Journal de Conchyliologie,' 

 tome xxii. 1874. 



* ' Notice sur la Malacologie de quelques points du littoral de 

 l'Einpire Chinois,' par Odon Desbeaux, ' Journal de Conch.' 



+ ' Essai sur la Pharinacie et la Matiere Medicale des Chinois,' par 

 J. O. Desbeaux. 



X ' Journal de Conchyliologie,' P. Fischer, tome xiii. 1865. 



