182 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



known of a ship arriving at London from Panama, 

 bringing more than two millions of pearl-shells for 

 the English markets. During the last few years 

 pearl-shells have risen in price, and in 1883, the value 

 had increased from 160 to 240 and 250 per ton.* 



The wholesale price in the Channel Islands for shells 

 of the first quality is 10 per ton, and by retail they 

 are sold at Id. per Ib. 



Mother-of-pearl, however, is not only made from the 

 Haliotidce, but the snail pearl-shell Turbo cornutus, 

 the white pearl-shell, Meleagrina margaritifera, are also 

 used in this manufacture. 



Mr. John P. Turner, in his account of the 'Bir- 

 mingham Button Trade/ says, " That no elaborate 

 machinery is employed in the production of pearl but- 

 tons." Hitherto skilled hand labour, assisted by 

 nothing but the foot-lathe, was alone employed. The 

 mother-of-pearl which is cut into buttons, is of various 

 kinds. The white-edged Macassar sheik (Meleagrina 

 margaritifera) , fished almost entirely from the seas 

 round Macassar, in the East Indies, are the finest in 

 size and quality. The yellow-edged Manilla shells are 

 more brittle in turning, and are used chiefly for knife- 

 handles in the Sheffield trade. The Bombay and Alex- 

 andria shells are smaller in size and less delicate in 

 tint and clearness, and are found in the Persian Gulf 

 and the Red Sea; they vary very much in quality and 

 usefulness. 



The Black shell, one of the Haliotidce , is brought 

 from the Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean, and is 

 so called because, when polished, it throws out a very 

 dark shade, full, however, of beautiful rainbow tints 



* Times, Feb. 13th, 1883. 



