236 Pearls. 



of the fish, analogous to the stone in the human 

 body. On being squeezed they will eject the Pearl, 

 and often cast it spontaneously in the sand of 

 the stream." 



The fame of the Conway as a source of Pearls, led 

 Spencer, writing in the sixteenth century, to describe 

 the river, in his Faerie Queen, in these terms : — 



"Conway, which out of his streame doth send 

 Plenty of Pearles to deck his dames withall." 



The Welsh Pearls are mostly of a dull colour, 

 and indeed River-Pearls not unfrequently present a 

 dim leaden hue. The author recently received a Pearl 

 from the mouth of the Conway, which was quite black. 



The Pearl mussels are known to the Welsh 

 as Crageii-y-duliw. They are referred by most 

 naturalists, as stated in an early chapter of this 

 work, to the Unio rtiargaritifer, though some con- 

 chologists place them in Say's sub-genus Alasmodontay 

 and others in Schumacher's sub-genus Margaritana, 

 It appears that in addition to the Pearls obtained 

 from these fresh-water mussels, there are many 

 Welsh Pearls of inferior quality yielded by the 

 common marine mussel — the edible species, Mytilus 

 edulis — which is found abundantly at the mouth of 

 the Conway, where it is largely gathered at low 

 water as bait and as food for swine. These shells 



