June 15, 1899] 
NATURE 
151 
varieties, such as the common clam and conch, were made 
into wampum ; and that the pearls found in the shells 
were used as ornaments, whether lustreless pearls from 
the common oyster, or lustrous ones from the U77zo.” 
The opinion that these old pearls are of fresh-water 
origin is based on the fact that many of the North 
American rivers and lakes still abound with pearl-yield- 
ing Unionidae; and it is, therefore, the more remark- 
able that for over two centuries from the date of the 
Spanish exploration nothing seems to have been ascer- 
tained about the latter. As Mr. Kunz says, “the natives 
have been dispersed, and the white race, occupied 
with other interests and necessities, took little note of 
the hosts of fresh-water shells inhabiting the streams 
and lakes, and did not suspect their power of producing 
pearls. In the year 1749, John Winthrop, in a natural 
history catalogue, first mentioned the production of pearls 
by the fresh-water mussels of the country. But more 
than a century was destined to elapse before any prac- 
tical result arose from this knowledge ; for it was not till 
1857, when the “queen-pearl ” was discovered at Notch 
Brook, near Paterson, New Jersey, that the country 
awoke to a conception of its hidden treasures. This 
pearl, which weighed 93 grains, was sold to the Empress 
Eugénie of France for 500/., and is said at the present 
day to be worth four times that sum. 
Its discovery immediately gave rise to an outbreak of 
“‘pearl-fever”; and the mussels of Notch Brook and 
other rivers were gathered by the million and ruthlessly 
destroyed, frequently with no pecuniary profit. So 
careless indeed was the mode of operation that a pearl 
weighing 400 grains, which would probably have proved 
the record specimen of modern times, was ruined by 
boiling the mussel in which it was contained. During 
the first year of the fever, the value of the pearls sent to 
New York was fully 3000/.; in 1858 it fell to about 
4oo/., while from 1860-63 the yield was only 300/. for 
the whole period. Although there was some slight 
revival of the trade in 1868, when pearls were discovered 
in the Little Miami river, Ohio, it was not till 1876 that 
any important find was made. But in that year 600/. 
worth were obtained from Waynesville, Ohio, a locality 
which hast since yielded many more pearls, among them 
one of 38 grains weight, although of somewhat irregular 
shape. Since 1880 pearls have been found in districts 
further to the south and west ; Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Texas becoming the chief pearl-producing States, while 
Florida has also contributed its quota. New Brunswick 
and Canada likewise entered into the competition, while 
in 1889 Wisconsin appeared on the scene with a large 
consignment of magnificently coloured pearls. Within 
three months more than 2000/. worth of these latter 
reached New York, including one specimen valued at 
over 100/,, the principal colours being purplish-red, 
copper-red, and deep pink. These finds led to intense 
activity among the pearl-hunters, with the result that 
the mussels were nearly exterminated in that district. 
Other parts of Wisconsin were found, however, to be 
equally prolific, and since 1889 it is estimated that pearls 
to the value of at least 5000/. have been obtained from 
that State alone. From exhaustion of the mussel-beds, 
the pearl excitement in the North-west subsided in the 
course of a few seasons. 
In 1897, the “fever” burst out anew in Arkansas, where 
it extended west into Indian territory, and north into 
Missouri, Georgia and certain districts in Tennessee 
being likewise affected. This period of excitement and 
activity promised to extend into 1898, of which year no 
accounts are at present to hand. A remarkable feature 
about the Arkansas discovery was the fact that a large 
proportion of the best pearls were obtained lying loose on 
the mud of the shores, or at the bottom of shallow waters, 
while sometimes they were found in or upon the soil 
at some distance from the water. “This peculiar oc- 
NO. 1546, VOL. 60] 
currence,” writes Mr. Kunz, “is partly explained by the 
wide extension of the waters in flood times over the low 
regions of the State, and by the shifting of streams and 
isolation of ‘cut-offs’; but the facts indicate further that 
under some circumstances, probably by agitation of floods 
and freshets, the loose pearls are lost or shaken out by 
the unios. A local impression prevails that the mussels 
‘shed’ them at certain seasons. The fact that the 
pearls thus found were generally round and well-formed ; 
the aggregation in repeated instances of several or many 
near or together, and the non-occurrence of shells with 
them at these places—all point to the washing out of 
loose pearls from the unios, and their distribution by floods 
and freshets.” 
In 1897, the excitement appears to have had somewhat 
disastrous results in certain districts by abstracting the 
washers from their regular fields of labour. It has also 
caused a revival of pearl-hunting in other districts, 
notably in the neighbourhood of New York. Florida 
may at present be regarded as an almost unworked 
country; but, judging from the specimens hitherto 
obtained, will probably yield a rich harvest. The two 
largest and finest pearls at present collected from this 
State weigh respectively 68 and 58 grains, and realised 
170/. and 120/. 
Connecticut has also witnessed a revival of pearl- 
hunting ; and here one of the collectors has started the 
German plan of using a pair of pincers to prise open 
the valves of the shells. 
The mussels that yield pearls in the States all belong 
to the typical genus U/#zo0, and include at least sixteen 
species. Most pearls appear to be obtained from the 
common U. complanatus, which is a very thick and 
rounded shell, shaped not unlike a Cyfrzza. Pearls are, 
however, occasionally found in thin and elongated 
species, like U. rectus. In the Amazon basin of South 
America, the pearl-bearing species belong to the allied 
genera Ayria and Castalia, while in China the pro- 
fitable species is a Dzfsas, and is much like the ordinary 
British Azodonta in general form. Unzo (Margaritana) 
margaritifera is the British pearl-mussel. 
With regard to the occurrence of the Arkansas pearls 
on the mud, it may be explained that the Unzonidae 
generally dwell in America on clear gravelly bottoms, 
and that in such situations the pearls when extruded 
from the shell would be ground up by the pebbles, or 
would be indistinguishable among them. Not so on 
the mud of the Arkansas streams, which seems 
to be the haunt of the unios. Whether the sup- 
position above mentioned, that the pearls are washed out 
or shed from the shells during life, be well founded, 
requires further investigation. It is stated that their 
non-association with shells is due to their having been 
washed away by floods or freshets after expulsion from 
the living animal; but this explanation would apply with 
equal force to the pearls yielded by defunct mussels. 
With a view of regulating the industry and preventing, 
if possible, the reckless destruction of mussels that takes 
place at each outbreak of the “ fever,” the U.S. Fish 
Commission commenced in 1894 an inquiry relating 
to pearl-fishing in the States; and the result of 
its labours up to 1898 is embodied in the report 
quoted above, the general conclusions being summed 
up as follows:—“‘The shells are most abundant in 
swift and clear waters, where the bottom is sandy or 
gravelly, and the country-rock calcareous. While still 
numerous in many streams, they have greatly diminished 
within a few years past, wherever the pearl-hunting 
enterprise has extended, and at some points are nearly 
exterminated. The pearls found are few, and those of 
marketable value represent the destruction of thousands 
of shells for every pearl obtained. . . . The methods of 
gathering the shells and extracting the pearls are the 
simplest and the most primitive, and the activity of a few 
