370 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



ward. The shells of this animal resemble 

 nothing so much as the haft of a razor ; and 

 by this form it is better enabled to dive into 

 the soft sand at the bottom. All the motions 

 of this little animal are confined to sinking or 

 rising a foot downwards or upwards in the 

 sand, for it never leaves the spot where it first 

 was planted. From time to time it is seen to 

 rise about halfway out of its hole ; but if any 

 way disturbed, it sinks perpendicularly down 

 again. Just over the place where the razor 

 buries itself, there is a small hole like a 

 chimney, through which the animal breathes, 

 or imbibes the sea-water. Upon the deser- 

 tion of the tide, these holes are easily distin- 

 guished by the fishermen who seek for it ; and 

 their method of enticing the razor up from the 

 depth of its retreat, is by sprinkling a little 

 sea-salt upon the hole. This melting no 

 sooner reaches the razor below, than it rises 

 instantly strait upwards, and shows about 

 half its length above the surface. This ap- 

 pearance, however, is instantaneous ; and if 

 the fisher does not seize the opportunity, the 

 razor buries itself with great ease to its former 

 depth. There it continues secure: no salt 

 can allure it a second time ; but it remains 

 unmolested, unless the fisher will be at the 

 trouble of digging it out sometimes two feet 

 below the surface. 



Such are the minute differences between 

 bivalved shell-fish ; but in the great outlines 

 of their nature they exactly resemble each 

 other. It is particularly in this class of shell- 

 fish that pearls are found in greatest abund- 

 ance ; and it is in the internal parts of those 

 shells that are of a shining silvery colour, that 

 these gems are usually generated ; but the 

 pearl is also found to breed as well in the 

 mussel or the scallop as in the oyster. In 

 fact, it is found in all bivalved shells, the in- 

 sides of which resemble that well-known sub- 

 stance called mother-of-pearl. 



Whether pearls be a disease or an accident 

 in the animal is scarcely worth inquiry. The 

 common opinion is, that they are a kind of 

 calculose concretion in the body of the animal, 

 somewhat resembling a stone in the bladder, 

 and are consequently to be considered as a 

 disorder. It is said, in confirmation of this 

 opinion, that those coasts upon which pearls 

 are fished, are very unhealthy; and therefore 

 most probably oysters share the general in- 

 fluence of the climate ; it is also added, that 

 those oysters in which pearls are found are 

 always ill-tasted, which is a sign of their 

 being unsound : and, lastly, it is asserted, that 

 the pearl grows sometimes so big as to keep 

 the shells of the animal from shutting, and 

 that thus it dies by being exposed. It is easy 

 to see the weakness of these assertions, which 

 seem neither true nor amusing. To answer 



them in their own way : If a stone in the 

 bladder be a disorder, a stone in the stomach 

 of an ostrich is a benefit, and so it may be in 

 the shell of an oyster. If the shores where 

 the pearls are fished be unwholesome to man, 

 that, instead of being disadvantageous, is so 

 much the more lucky for the oyster. If the 

 pearl oysters are the worst tasted, so are kites 

 and ravens among birds; and yet we know 

 that they are healthy and long-lived animals. 

 If the oyster had never its shell kept asunder 

 by the pearl within it, that would be a disease 

 indeed ; but this, in reality, never happens y 

 for the oyster that breeds a large pearl always 

 breeds a large shell, and the shell itself indents 

 to receive its impression. The pearl upon the 

 whole seems bred from no disorder in the ani- 

 mal, but accidentally produced by the same 

 matter that goes to form the shell. This sub- 

 stance, which is soft at first, quickly hardens ; 

 and thus, by successive coats, layer over layer, 

 the pearl acquires its dimensions. If cut 

 through, it will be found to consist of several 

 coats, like an onion ; and sometimes a small 

 speck is seen in the middle, upon which the 

 coats were originally formed. 



All oysters, and most shell-fish, are found 

 to contain pearls ; but that which particularly 

 obtains the name of the pearl oyster, has a 

 large strong whitish shell, wrinkled and rough 

 without, and within smooth and of a silver 

 colour. From these the mother-of-pearl is 

 taken, which is nothing more than the inter- 

 nal coats of the shell, resembling the pearl in 

 colour and consistence. This is taken out, 

 and shaped into that variety of utensils which 

 are found so beautiful: but the pearl itself is 

 chiefly prized ; being found but in few oysters, 

 and generally adhering ; sometimes making a 

 print in the body of the shell, sometimes at 

 large within the substance of the fish. 



There are a great number of pearl fisheries 

 in America and Asia : but as pearls bear a 

 worse price than formerly, those of America 

 are in a great measure discontinued. The most 

 famous of all the Asiatic fisheries is in the 

 Persian Gulf, near the isle of Bahreen. 1 There 



1 Pearls. The Persian Gulf, the shores of Japan, and 

 ;he Bay of Condatchy in Ceylon, are the situations where 

 )earls are found in greatest abundance at the present 

 day, and where the most extensive fisheries are carried 

 on. The Ceylon coast, in particular, yields in success- 

 'ul seasons a great produce, the revenue derived being 

 sometimes nearly two hundred thousand pounds. In 

 some years, however, the produce falls far short of this, 

 and this deficiency is generally occasioned by the ex- 

 haustion, for the time, of the oyster beds. To prevent 

 his, the bays where they are found are marked out into 

 divisions called banks, of which a certain number only are 

 ished each year, the rest being allowed to lie untouched. 

 The fishing season lasts about two months, commencing 

 n February and ending in April ; and the particular 

 banks to he wrought upon are put up to auction by gov- 

 ernment, and farmed out to the highest bidder. Pie- 



