582 Pearls and Pearl Fisheries. [June, 
The Scotch fishery continued until the end of the last century. 
The mollusks are still collected, but only as bait for the Aberdeen 
codfishery. The peasants used to gather the mussels in the River 
Tay before harvest time; the pearls were usually found in old and 
deformed specimens; round ones, perfect in every respect and of 
the size of a pea, were worth $15 or $20. 
In the twelfth century it appears that there was a commerce in 
Scotch pearls. In 1355 the Parisian jewelers enacted that no 
worker in gold or silver should set them with oriental pearls ex- 
cept in large ornaments or jewels for churches. In the reign of 
Charles I, the Scotch pearl trade was of sufficient importance to 
attract the attention of Parliament. The Scotch fishery seems to 
have been nearly forgotten, when in 1860 a foreign dealer, Moritz 
Unger, conceived the idea of making a tour through the districts 
where the pearl mussel was known to abound. He found many 
in the hands of people who did not know their value, and pur 
chased all he could find. In consequence, many peasants took 
up the search at times when they were otherwise unemployed and 
some were so successful as to make $40 or $50a week. In 1865 
it is estimated that pearls to the value of $60,000 were found. 
One Scotch pearl was bought by the Queen for $200. Since the 
fisheries have revived, the value of the pearls has risen, and g 
ones bring from $25. to $100. One of the pearls, according to 
Frédé, which ornament the royal crown of Great Britain, wes 
found in the River Conway by a lady-in-waiting to Catherine, wife 
of Henry VIII! The lady was fishing and accidentally hooked 
a mussel, or picked one up on the sand, which out of curiosity 
she opened and discovered a pearl of unusual size. Otherwise 
its chief merit consisted in being a native production. It 1345 
large as a bean. f : 
American naiads afford few good pearls, the nacre not ahs 
sufficiently brilliant in general, but a few very valuable pe 
have been obtained from a Florida species. One is represent 
to have been found in New Jersey which sold in Paris for Pr 
In any case the labor and expense, at present rates, in this cou 
try are so great as to render the business unprofitable. 
In Germany the pearl mussel flourishes best in the pan 
forest between Regensberg and Passau, and the streams xi 
1 Frédé, Voyage, etc. 1882. 
2 American Cyclopædia, Art, Pearls. 
