JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 97 
THE UNIONIDE. 
The river Mussels, or /Vaids, are found in all parts of the 
globe, but nowhere in such abundance as in North America. 
Owing to the absence of dredging here in bay and lake, we 
are almost unacquainted with the Fauna of Ontario waters. 
Messrs. Hanham and Leslie, members of our association, when 
residing in this city obtained some Unzos and Anodontas which 
were cast ashore by storms or caught up by ice shoves, but 
such were not fair representatives of the /Vazds of this locality. 
Recently Mr. Schuler, a member of our association, scooped 
up from his boat (passing over shallow mud-banks) several 
large Unios, which appear to differ from all the writer has seen 
here previously. These specimens are submitted for your 
inspection and comparison with a few received from the 
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, U. S. A. It does not 
appear to be generally known in Ontario that the famous 
British pearls were by no means an unimportant factor in 
inducing the Roman invasion of Great Britain. These highly 
prized gems were obtained from river Mussels, chiefly inhabit- 
ing mountain streams. It is said the Scotch pearl fishery 
continued until the close of the last century. The Irish one at 
an earlier period was of considerable importance, and in a paper 
received from Ireland, mention was made of a very large fine 
pearl recently discovered in a river Mussel in, I think, a 
Donegal stream. 
It is reasonable to believe that many of the rocky streams of 
the Dominion must also hold large quantities of pearl-bearing 
Mussels. When quartered formerly in London, C. W., | 
noticed on alow bank near a ford on the Thames River quite a 
number of Unios which were brought there apparently by some 
animal from thence, and on removing: a portion of a decayed 
Mollusc from one valve I noticed asmall pink pearl correspond- 
ing in color with the interior of the many empty heavy shells 
around. Old thickened specimens furnish the gems in Europe, 
and are just as likely to furnish these on this continent. It may 
be unnecessary to state the Axodonta (commonly called Swan 
Mussels), while resembling the foregoing, are edentulous ; and 
