104 S/tc/Is Its evidence of the j\fii^ rat ions. 



All these ni)'tlis seem to be modifications of the 

 old idea of social relations between pjearl oysters and 

 sharks, or of the cnrions story cjiioted by IMiny ( Bk. ix.. 

 ch. 55) from Megasthenes that pearl-oysters lived in 

 communities, just like swarms of bees, each of them being 

 governed by one remarkable for its size and great age 

 (or splendour , and which at the same time possessed 

 marvellous skill in keeping its subjects out of danger ; 

 the divers, it is said, took especial care to find these, so 

 that the others might easily be taken. 



The art of artificial pearl-making seems to have been 

 practised by the Chinese for several centuries. Mr. F. 

 Hague, British Consul at Ningpo, informs us that "there 

 is a note that at the commencement of the seventh 

 century, pearls were made of a composition (n- medicine. 

 The art may have been lost, or it ma}' be the same as that 

 now employed at, and which cjriginated at, Canton. '"' In 

 conjunction with Dr. Mc Govvan, an American phj'sician 

 resident at Xingi)o, the method pursued by the Chinese 

 with the " Mussel-pearl " was carefull)^ investigated, and 

 excellent accounts of this interesting industry have been 

 published.'"' The practice of the art is carried on in two 

 villages near the city of Teht-sing i Titsin in the northern 

 part of Chihkiang i C'hekiang , in a silk-[M-oducing region. 

 In May or June, quantities of large freshwater mussels 

 {Dipsas plicatns) are brought from the Tahu, a lake in 

 Kiang-su, some thirty miles distant, and after a {q\4 days' 

 respite in bamboo cages in water, various matrices are 

 introduced between the animal and the shell by means 

 (jf a bifurcated bamboo stick. After a sufficient number 

 has been treated they are placed in canals, pools, and 

 streams. In about a \'ear the matrices become incrustecl 



■■'" Ibid., p. 282. 



■•"^ Ibid.., pii. 280-4 ; ^'"(^1 McOouan, Joinii. 0/ Soi . of Arts, ii., jjp. 72-5. 



