The Southern Cross Pearl. 303 



the unique character of the Pearl, it was valued 

 by the owners at ;^ 10,000 ; but this price is un- 

 reasonably high. 



At first sight it might be supposed that the 

 component Pearls, or at least some of them, had 

 been artificially grouped together ; and it was 

 natural that many visitors, who had not had the 

 opportunity of closely inspecting the cross, should 

 be disposed to entertain this opinion. Considering 

 the almost geometrical regularity in the grouping 

 of the Pearls, such an attitude of scepticism was 

 pardonable enough. But minute examination of the 

 Cross under high magnifying power is sufficient to 

 dispel any notion of its artificial character. 



It is notable that when any natural object 

 of striking novelty is presented to a scientific 

 observer, he is, by force of training, disposed to hesi- 

 tate before assenting to its genuineness. This is 

 not the first time that Australia has puzzled our 

 cautious men of science by the singularity of its 

 native products. For instance, when the duck- 

 billed platypus ( Ornithorhynchus paradoxiais) was 

 originally brought to this country, zoologists hesi- 

 tated to believe that so strange a creature could 

 be natural, and were led to conclude that a hoax 

 must have been perpetrated, by cunningly grafting 

 the bill of a duck on to the body of a small 



