The Oyster, 87 



This is tlie M, Margaritifera of naturalists^ tlie mol- 

 lusk in whose shells pearls are chiefly found. Here 

 are two long words; Meleagris is the Latin for a 

 Guinea or Turkey Hen^ to the markings of whose 

 plumage naturalists might have imagined the shells 

 of this genus bore some resemblance. There was, 

 says the mythology, a celebrated hero of antiquity 

 named Meleaga, but we can hardly suppose that 

 there is any association between his name and 

 that of a genus of Oysters, of which edible we 

 read the ancients were very fond, and they are 

 said to have had a fancy, not only for the mol- 

 lusk itself, but also for the pearls found in its 

 shell, which at their luxurious banquets they dis- 

 solved in wine, to make the draughts richer, or, at 

 all events, more expensive ; and this brings us to 

 the specific name of the Pearl Oyster, Margariti/eraj 

 which comes from the Latin Margarita — a pearl; 

 the French use this word slightly altered in the 

 spelling (thus. Marguerite) for both a daisy and 



A PEAEL. 



This jewel, so highly valued for its chaste beauty, 

 is but a secretion of animal matter, resulting from 

 the efforts of some uneasy mollusk, annoyed by a 

 foreign substance,, which has found its way into his 



