Ste littmttmtg liri 



SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



American Pearls, 



Pearls are found all over America ; but actually, the only 

 fisheries carried on successfully, are on the Pacific Coast, 

 between Mazatlan and Tehuantepec, Mexico. In former 

 times, many fine pearls were found at Panama, but the 

 fisheries are entirely abandoned now. Occasionally some 

 fine pink pearls are found on the Atlantic Coast, between 

 Florida and Trinidad ; but these are produced by the large 

 well known shell, Strombus gigas, a very common species 

 on the Atlantic Coast of America. In Vera Cruz, Mexico, 

 they are abundant, and are sold in the market for eating 

 purposes. When living there, I bought some several times, 

 and I tasted them, but I cannot say that they were to my 

 taste. Either we did not know how to cook them or they 

 were very old ; but what I can say is that they were very 

 tough. I have only once seen a pearl found in these shells ; 

 but I have heard that in the West Indies they are often 

 brought for sale by fishermen who make their business of 

 fishing these shells. The pearls are usually pink and are 

 much valued by jewellers. In Bahamas, these shells are 

 very abundant. As many as 500,000 have been exported to 

 England in one year. The layers composing the shell being 

 of different colors, it is extensively used in carving cameos. 

 It is also ground to powder for the manufacture ot the finer 

 kinds of porcelain. According to my experience, pearls 

 exist more or less in all the species of Strombus and other 

 allied genera, as in all species of Oysters, Anodontes, Unios, 

 and even in Mussels ; but it is in oysters that they are more 

 abundant. The American pearls sent to the United States 

 and European markets are the produce of Ostrea macros- 

 chisma Desk, a very common species on the Pacific Coast 

 in Mexico. When living there, some thirty years ago, I met 

 with fishermen who made their business of fishing for 

 pearls. The divers gathered the oysters at the bottom of 

 the sea with their hands, and after each dive generally 

 brought one lump of shells in each hand. Two minutes 



