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shells — one of these, the S trombus gigas, being further 

 famous for yielding the rare and very valuable pale-pink 

 pearl. Artificial flowers, manufactured out of various of 

 the smaller marine shells, constitute, as in Madeira, an 

 important article of export, and are represented by some 

 exquisite specimens in the adjacent show cases. The 

 edible turtle {Ckelone midas) and the tortoiseshell-produc- 

 ing variety {Caretta imbricata) have to be included among 

 the marine products of the Bahamas, as likewise the sea- 

 cucumber or trepang, locally known as " Beche de Mer." 

 This animal, which, in life, has an elongate worm-like 

 contour, with an anteriorly developed crown of retractile 

 plumose tentacles, belongs to the natural order of the 

 Echinodennata — including the star-fishes, sea-urchins, and 

 crinoids, or sea-lilies. In tropical regions, where it is 

 especially abundant, the sea-cucumber {genus Holothurid) 

 is extensively used as an article of food — chiefly as a basis 

 for soup — and constitutes an important fishery. The 

 mode of preparing them for the market is as follows : The 

 viscera of the animals are first removed, and they are then 

 boiled for from ten to twenty minutes ; they are next 

 thoroughly soaked in fresh water, and then spread out on 

 frames in the curing-houses. In these houses they are 

 smoked and dried by means of fires lit in trenches under- 

 neath the frames during a period of four days, and by 

 which time they are ready for market. A large barrel of 

 sea-cucumbers, or "Beches de Mer," thus prepared, and 

 presenting — in the raw condition — a by no means inviting 

 aspect, is included among the more interesting exhibits of 

 the Bahama series. 



By far the most important marine product of the Bahama 

 Islands is, however, that of sponges, and it is to an account 

 of this organic group in general, and of the varieties having 



