Distribiitio)! of Pearls mid Ptwrl-slicll. ~i 



they \i.site(l. Not onlx- were the hijjjhly-pri/.eil marine 

 ]ieail.s sought for, hut also those from the freshwater pearl 

 mussels of the family Unioiiidd'. 



Tlie Red Sea is probably the must ancient of tlie 

 known sources of |)earls. Gems from this neighbourhood 

 were known man}- centuries l)efore the Christian era, and 

 tlie fishery was in a fjourishiui;- condition in the time of 

 the I'tolemies. These pearls are referred to 1)\' Strabo, 

 ylilianus, and other classical writers/' The most inter- 

 estiui^ feature in connection with these fisheries is the fact 

 that the ancient inhabitants of the shores of the \\Q(\ Sea 

 were actjuainted with an artificial methoil of producing 

 pearls. According to the philosopher A|K)llonius,^ the 

 inhabitants rendered the sea smooth b\' flooding it with 

 oil ; the\- then dived into the sea and halting alongsitle 

 the pearl-oyster they induced it to open b\- holding out a 

 case of mj-rrh before it as a bait. The o\ster was then 

 pierced with a long pin and the litpu'd which exuded from 

 the wound was received into an iron l^lock which was 

 hollowed out in regular holes, where it petrified in regular 

 shapes, just like the natural pearl. Though the details as 

 to the method of [)rocedure are scarcely credible, it is 

 not improbable that the stor\' has some sound foimda- 

 tion, and that attemjJts were reallx^ made at that earl)' 

 time to stimulate the growth of jjearls. This inteiesting 

 fact is of some importance in connection with th.e artificial 

 l^roduction of pearls in India and China, to which atten- 

 tion is called on later i)ages. 



l*"r<)m the proximit)' c^f the \<q.(\ Sea to l^gvpt it is not 

 surjjrising that the pearl-shell was known to the Egyptians 



' Kmi/. ;ind Stcvensun, " Tlic l^ook nf tlic IV;irl,'' -AVrc Voih, ii/oS, 

 pp. 139 >"/• 



* riiiloslralus, "The Life of Apullonius nf Tyaii..," I.k. iii..cli. Ivii. 

 (Edit. Conybeare, vol. i., 1912, ]). 343). 



