403 AN ACCOUNT OF THE 



fame foolifh opinion concerning the formation of the 

 pearl which the ancients did.. They iuppoie them 

 formed from dew-drops in connection with inn-beams, 

 A Brahmen informed ine that it was recorded in one 

 ef his Sanfirit books, that the pearls are formed in the 

 month of May at the appearance of the Sooatee ft ar 

 (one of their twentv-feven conftellations) when the 

 oyfters come up to the furface of the water, to catch the 

 drops of rain. One of the moil celebrated concholo- 

 gifts *, fuppofes that the pearl is formed by the oyfter 

 in order to defend itielf from the attacks of the pholades 

 and boreworms. But we may be afiured that in this fup- 

 pofition he is miitaken, for although thele animals 

 often penetrate the outer layers of the pearl (hell, and 

 there occalicn hollow nodes, yet, on examination, it 

 will be found, that they are never able to pierce 

 the firm layer, with which the iniide of the fhell is 

 lined. How can the pearls be formed as a defence 

 againft exterior worms, when, even on fhells that 

 contain them, no worm-holes are to be fcen ? it 

 is, therefore, more probable thefe worms take up their 

 habitations in the nodes, in order to protect themfelves 

 from the attacks of an enemy, than that they are ca- 

 pable of preying on an animal, fo well defended as the 

 pearl-filli is. It is unneeeilary to repeat the various 

 opinions and hvpothefes of other modern authors ; it 

 is much eaiier to criticife them, than to iubftitute irV 

 their place a more rational theory. That of Reaumur, 

 mentioned in the memoirs of the French Academy for 

 1/12, is the molt probable, viz. that the pearls . are 

 formed like bezoars and other ilones in different ani- 

 mals, and are apparently the erfectrs ol a deceafe. In 

 fnorl it is very evident, that the pearl is formed by an 

 extravafation of a glutinous juice either within the 

 body, or on the furface of the animal : the former cale 

 is the mod common. Between one and two hundred 

 rls have been fonnd within one oyfter. Such 



Rev. Mr. Chemnitz it Copenhagen. 



extra- 



