BREEDING PEARLS. 38 



account being most generously supplemented by her sending the 



box containing* the pearls for my inspection. Mrs. writes as 



follows : — "I had three ' Breeding Pearls' given me in June or 

 "July 1874. On the 17th July I shut these three up with a 

 " layer of cotton wool above and below them and some few 

 ee grains of a very fine rice, (called here " Pulot" rice ?) On the 

 " 14th of July 1875, we opened the box in the company of , two 

 " or three friends and we discovered twelve of sizes — the three 

 " original ones standing out distinctly by their greater size ; 

 " though some of the newly bred ones were by no means insig- 

 " nificant to look at. One or two were about the size of a pin's 

 " head and perfectly round. The rice looked crumbly and worm- 

 Ci eaten. 



" The size of the three breeding pearls both my husband and I 

 " thought considerably larger. I had made a rough drawing- 

 " of their appearance and size, and you can see the boxes for 

 u yourself. • 



" I have started afresh again with five big ones lately given 

 u me, three of the old originals, and I think the fifth is one of 

 ic those bred in my box. But this I could not vouch for. 



u I send the two boxes and shall be glad to have them back 

 " when you have done with them/' 



I may add that the rice in the boxes sent was all " bitten 

 away" as in the other case. I feel certain that the " bite" has 

 been produced by some living' ag'ency, and that it could not have 

 been produced in any other way. 



Having been informed that, Mrs. of the local Girls' school, 



could give me some information on the matter I called on that 

 lady and she kindly told me all she knew. This was ex- 

 actly to the same effect as above described, with the further 

 item that " breeding pearls" were in all cases originally taken 

 from pearl oysters, and that when about to " breed" a small black 

 speck made its appearance on some portion of the pearl, which 

 speck continued to be visible so long" as the breeding process 

 continued. I then wrote to a gentleman who I was informed 

 had himself bred a considerable number — Mr. H. B. Woodford — 

 who very kindly furnished me with a series of notes which I 

 transcribe in almost his own words :— <• 



Breeding pearls are found in several of the oyster and clam 

 species, including those known as Tridacnse with a fan shaped 

 shell. The shells yielding them abound chiefly on the coast of 

 Borneo, but they are also found throughout the Malayan Archi- 

 pelago and even in Singapore. I found one at Tanah Merah 



