182 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



known of a ship arriving at London from Panama, 

 bringing more than two millions of pearl-shells for 

 the English markets. During the last few years 

 pearl-shells have risen in price, and in 1883, the value 

 had increased from £160 to £240 and £250 per ton.* 



The wholesale price in the Channel Islands for shells 

 of the first quality is £10 per ton, and by retail they 

 are sold at Id. per lb. 



Mother-of-pearl, however, is not only made from the 

 Haliotidce, but the snail pearl-shell Turbo cornutus, 

 the white pearl-shell, Meleagrina margaritifera, are also 

 used in this manufacture. 



Mr. John P. Turner, in his account of the 'Bir- 

 mingham Button Trade/ says, " That no elaborate 

 machinery is employed in the production of pearl but- 

 tons. " Hitherto skilled hand labour, assisted by 

 nothing but the foot-lathe, was alone employed. The 

 mother-of-pearl which is cut into buttons, is of various 

 kinds. The white-edged Macassar shells (Meleagrina 

 margaritifera), fished almost entirely from the seas 

 round Macassar, in the East Indies, are the finest in 

 size and quality. The yellow-edged Manilla shells are 

 more brittle in turning, and are used chiefly for knife- 

 handles in the Sheffield trade. The Bombay and Alex- 

 andria shells are smaller in size and less delicate in 

 tint and clearness, and are found in the Persian Gulf 

 and the Red Sea; they vary very much in quality and 

 usefulness. 



The Black shell, one of the Haliotidce,, is brought 

 from the Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean, and is 

 so called because, when polished, it throws out a very 

 dark shade, full, however, of beautiful rainbow tints 



* Times, Feb. 13th, 1883. 



