Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ix. (1916), No. 1%. 35 



All these myths seem to be but modifications of the 

 old idea of social relations between pearl-oysters and 

 sharks, or of the curious story quoted by Pliny (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 or medicine. 

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

 now employed at, and which originated at, Canton." 95 In 

 conjunction with Dr. Mc Gowan, an American physician 

 resident at Ningpo, the method pursued by the Chinese 

 with the " Mussel-pearl " was carefully investigated, and 

 excellent accounts of this interesting industry have been 

 published. 96 The practice of the art is carried on in two 

 villages near the city of Teht-sing (Titsin) in the northern 

 part of Chihkiang (Chekiang), in a silk-producing region. 

 In May or June, quantities of large freshwater mussels 

 (Dipsas plicatus) are brought from the Tahu, a lake in 

 Kiang-su, some thirty miles distant, and after a few days' 

 respite in bamboo cages in water, various matrices are 

 introduced between the animal and the shell by means 

 of a bifurcated bamboo stick. After a sufficient number 

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

 streams. In about a year the matrices become incrusted 



95 Ibid., p. 282. 



96 Ibid., pp. 280-4 ; ar >d McGowan, Joum. of Soc. of Arts, ii., pp. 72-5. 



