Mother-of- Pearl Shell. 1 03 



At one time about 100 tons of Mothcr-of-Pcarl were 

 consumed annually by the Sheffield cutlers. 



Visitors to the Holy Land usually bring away 

 as mementoes, specimens of Mother-of-Pearl, orna- 

 mented with leligious subjects, elaborately carved in 

 low relief. Tliese are trequenrl\- preserved in collec- 

 tions of curiosities under the name of "Pilgrims' 

 shells." 



Mother-of-Pearl is often ornamented by a process 

 of engraving, especially in China. Among the objects 

 commonly made of this material, are the Chinese 

 card-counters, frequently shaped like fish. Such 

 objects are ornamented by elegant patterns incised 

 in the shell ; but in some cases the design is etched 

 by means of an acid, which attacks the shell in 

 the same way that nitric acid bites into a copper- 

 plate, in the ordinary process of etching. 



Mother-of-Pearl plays an important part in the 

 manufacture of papier-mache. Mr. W. C. Aitken, 

 of Birmingham, in an interesting paper on this 

 manufacture, informs us that " Pearl-shell inlaying, 

 which contrasts so well with the brilliant black of 

 English papier-mache, a process suggested by foreign 

 lac-work — was introduced by George Souter, a 

 decorator in the employ of Messrs. Jennens and 

 Betteridge, who patented the invention in 1825. 



