104 Pear Is. 



The Pearl ornaments were made from thin laminae 

 of shell, from one-hundredth to one-fortieth part of 

 an inch in thickness. The ornament was painted 

 on the Pearl with varnish or * stopping-out' material; 

 acid was then applied, and the portions of Pearl 

 not protected eaten away. By this method the 

 most delicate ornaments were produced." 



It should be remarked that for the manufacture 

 of papier-mache, and for buttons and various trivial 

 ornaments, much use is made of certain iridescent 

 shells, distinct from Mother-of-Pearl, yet often 

 confounded therewith : these are principally the 

 brilliantly prismatic shells of the Haliotis, sometimes 

 termed, from their shape, " ear-shells," and from 

 their iridescent colours ''aurora-shells;" together with 

 certain species of Turbo, such as T, niargaritacetis, 

 known also as '' Maara shell." 



A few years ago, when '* Smoked Pearl," de- 

 rived from the black- edged shells, came into use 

 in this country for the manufacture of the large dark 

 buttons, then so fashionable, it was remembered that 

 about thirty or forty years previously, some dark 

 shells had been imported, but being then regarded as 

 almost useless, were buried in piles in Birmingham. 

 Attention was now naturally directed to their exhu- 

 mation. "An anecdote was recently told me," said 



