The cockelle, with heavenly dew so clene 

 Of kynde, engendereth white pearls rounde. 



Old poem. 



TVhen T\-e see such forms as these we hardly like to 

 think that they are secreted by some slimy moUusk, but 

 would imagine that the mermaids tear off pieces of the 

 rainbows where they touch the sea, and carry them to the 

 cold depths to congeal them into shells. — H. A. Ward's 

 Catalogue of Species. 



60 



