PEARLS. 81 
by means of some attractive baits, to expand their 
shells, and having pricked them with a sharp-pointed 
instrument, the liquor which exuded from the wound 
was received into a perforated iron vessel, where it 
hardened gradually, and formed pearls of the finest 
water.” 
Modern naturalists are undecided with regard to 
the accuracy of this narration; yet there are various 
reasons to conclude, that the people who lived on 
the shores of the Red Sea were acquainted with an 
artificial mode of producing pearls; and this opinion 
is additionally confirmed by the method now in use 
among the modern Chinese, who retain, with few 
alterations, the arts and customs of their ancestors. 
Pearl Oysters, at-certain seasons of the year, con~ 
gregate in considerable numbers on the surface of 
the water, where they open their shells, and enjoy 
the influence of the sun. At this period the Chinese 
fishermen throw into each of them a small string of 
beads, formed of mother-of-pearl, which becoming 
incrusted in the course of a few months, present the 
appearance of real pearls. No sooner is this curious 
process supposed to be completed, than the Muscles 
are drawn up, and robbed of the treasures which 
they contain. The truth of this extraordinary state- 
ment may be implicitly relied on; it is confirmed by 
the testimony of respectable travellers, and the result 
G 
