The Story of the Pearl 



No one knows who discovered and first 

 used pearls as ornaments. Before history 

 began to be written, men loved and 

 admired these precious gems as they do 

 to-day. The American Indians had hordes 

 of them when white men first set foot on 

 this continent, and they are found in the 

 mounds where they were buried with the 

 bodies of the honored members of their 

 tribes. But it is with the things of to-day 

 that we are most interested. Where do 

 pearls come from and how are they formed? 

 The pearl oyster, Meleagrina, furnishes 

 most of the finer pearls which come from the 

 sea. These shells are found in the warm 

 seas of many parts of the world; the 

 Persian Gulf, Ceylon, Borneo,The Phillippine 

 Islands, The Malay Islands, Panama, and 

 the West Indies. The fresh water mussel, 

 Unio, from which many of our most valuable 

 pearls are taken, inhabits the rivers and 

 lakes of the temperate parts of the world. 

 China, Russia, Germany, England, Scot- 

 land and the rivers and 

 great lakes of Africa. 



Pearl Bearing Mussel and Pearls 



Middle West 



