PEARL FISHING SYNDICATE 15 



precedented. The 1905 fishery, which began on 

 February 18, promised to beat all records. On Feb- 

 ruary 22 the catch was nearly 4,500,000 oysters; and 

 the Government's share for that day was ;^9,ooo. 

 Since this date each year has yielded a bountiful 

 harvest, and in financial circles the London Syndicate, 

 who have obtained a ' concession ' of the oyster-beds 

 for twenty years from the Ceylon Government, are 

 understood to be ' doing very well.' 



It is perhaps too soon to attribute this success to 

 the efforts of Professor Herdman and Mr. Hornell, 

 the latter of whom, we understand, has been per- 

 manently retained as biologist to the syndicate ; 

 but we have no doubt that, acting under their 

 advice, the oyster-bed may be made a steady, in place 

 of a most intermittent, source of revenue. In this 

 connexion it may be mentioned that radiography is 

 now being used, and by its means the oysters con- 

 taining large pearls can be separated from those that 

 do not, and the latter returned to the sea. Besides 

 their valuable work in solving this particular problem, 

 Professor Herdman and his colleague have made a 

 rich collection of marine animals, which are being 

 examined by a number of specialists. The results of 

 their labours have appeared in a handsome series of 

 volumes published under the auspices of the Royal 

 Society ; and it is from the first of these that many of 

 the facts contained in this article are derived. The 

 memoirs included in the volumes contain many 

 important additions to our knowledge ; but no result 

 is more interesting or more economically important 

 than the confirmation of the fact that, as M. Dubois 

 puts it, ' La plus belle perle n'est done, en definitive, 

 que le brillant sarcophage d'un ver.' 



