THE PEARL-OYSTER. ail 
have been plucked, they are again immersed into the lake, 
until a new generation brings a new harvest. Thus the indolent 
Neapolitans have for ages given an example which -has but 
recently been imitated by the men of the North. In 1858 a 
mason named Beef (a name which, if not misspelt, would seem 
to point out an Enelish origin) inaugurated the modern era of 
oyster cultivation, at the island of Ré, near La Rochelle, by 
laying down a few bushels of growing oysters among a quantity 
of large stones on the fore shore. His success encouraged his 
neighbours to follow his example, so that now already upwards 
of 4,000 beds or claires extend along the coast. 
Between March and May 1859 a quantity of oysters taken 
from different parts of the sea were distributed in ten longitu- 
dinal beds in the Bay of St. Brieux, on the coast of Brittany. 
The bottom was previously covered with old oyster-shells and 
boughs of trees arranged like fascines, which afford a capital 
holding-ground for the spat. In 1860 three of the fascines were 
taken up indiscriminately from one of the banks, and found to 
contain about 20,000 oysters each, of from one inch to two 
inches in diameter. The total expense for forming the above 
bank was 221 francs, and reckoning the number of oysters on 
each of the 300 fascines laid down on it at only 10,000, these 
sold at the low price of 20 francs a thousand would produce 
the sum of 60,000 francs, thus yielding a larger profit than any 
other known branch of industry. 
Encouraged by these successful examples, an English com- 
pany has obtained a grant by Act of Parliament of a piece of 
fore shore lying between the Whitstable and Faversham Oyster 
Companies’ beds, and thus admirably situated for receiving a 
large quantity of floating spawn from these establishments. 
There can be no doubt that oyster cultivation will spread further 
and further, and that ultimately all the worthless bays and 
lagunes along our coasts will be converted into rich oyster-fields, 
yielding a good profit to their owners and enjoyment to millions 
of consumers. 
A shell nearly related to the oyster produces the costly pearls 
of the East that have ever been as highly esteemed as the 
diamond itself. The most renowned pearl-fisheries are carried 
on at Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf, and in the Bay of Condatchy, 
in the island of Ceylon, on banks situated a few miles from _ 
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