PEARLS AND PEARL-CULTURE. 



WHAT are pearls, and where produced ? Can they be 

 multiplied by the art of pisciculture ? These are queries 

 of some importance, if it be true that, so recently as 

 last century, the pearls sent to London from the rivers 

 Tay and Isla between the years 1761 and 1764 were 

 worth 10,000.* It is singular, observes Mr Tytler, 

 " to find so precious an article as pearls amongst the 

 subjects of Scottish trade ; yet the fact rests on good 

 authority. The Scottish pearls in the possession of 

 Alexander I. were celebrated in distant countries for 

 their extreme size and beauty; and, as early as the 

 fourth century, there is evidence of a foreign demand 

 for this species of luxury." The fame of our Scottish 

 rivers as producing valuable pearls has of late been 

 attracting some attention. Sums varying from a few 

 shillings up to 40 have recently been given for single 

 pearls ; and it is stated that her Majesty and other per- 

 sons of distinction willingly purchase pearls obtained 

 from the Tay and the Don. Mr linger, a jeweller in 

 Edinburgh, is exerting himself in stimulating the peo- 

 ple on the pearl-producing rivers of Scotland to culti- 

 vate this kind of industry. We have thus been led to 

 think about pearls, and to investigate into the causes of 

 their production : the result is, that we think pearl- cul- 

 ture deserving of attention. If oysters and mussels be 

 * Forbes and Hanley, ' British Molluscs,' ii. 149. 



