HALIOTIDJS. EAU-SHELL, OR SEA-EAR. 183 



exquisitely blended. The Panama shells are the 

 poorest species of shell, and are used for the inferior 

 kinds of buttons.* 



Curiously carved pearl-shells, the work of the monks 

 at Bethlehem, are sold by them to pilgrims and others 

 who visit the Holy Land, and Bruce states that mother- 

 of-pearl inlaying was brought to great perfection at 

 Jerusalem. The nacre was from the Lulu el Berberi, 

 or Abyssinian oyster. Great quantities were brought 

 daily from the Red Sea to Jerusalem, and crucifixes, 

 wafer-boxes, and beads were made and sent to the 

 Spanish dominions in the New World. f 



In the days of luxury at Rome, the panels in the 

 golden house of Nero were of mother-of-pearl, enriched 

 with gold and gems ; and dishes, bowls, and cups of 

 pearl-shell, were greatly esteemed in the sixteenth and 

 seventeenth centuries. Leland/' in his ' Collectanea/ 

 describes the christening of the child of the Lady 

 Cicile, " wife to John, Erie of Este Frieseland, called the 

 Marquis of Bawden, and sister to Eryke, King of 

 Sweden, and the decorations of the chapel, &c. The 

 christening took place at the ' Queene's Palleyes, 

 Westminster/ 30th Sept., Anno 1565, and the chap- 

 pell was hung with cloathe of gold. The communion 

 table was richly furnished with plate and Jewells, and 

 amongst other ornaments were a ( Fountayne and 

 Basen of mother-of-pearle, two shippes of mother-of- 

 pearle, and another shipe of mother-of-pearle." J 



Mr. G. R. Corner mentions a very elegant cup in 



* As quoted in * The Midland Hardware District,' edited by Samuel 

 Thnmius, containing ' Papier Mache Manufacture/ by W. C. Ritken, 

 Birmingham. 



f Bruce's ' Travels/ see Appendix, vol. viii. pp. 337, 338. 



' Gems and Jewels. 



