Mother-of- Pearl and its Uses. 381 



some of the mounds of shells which have accumulated 

 on the shores of the island from time to time after the 

 periodical fisheries for pearls. 



In inlaying with pearl shell the artist traces the stems 

 and leaves of the flowers with a camel's-hair pencil, dipped 

 in a size made of varnish and turpentine ; upon this he 

 lays gold-leaf, which adheres where there is size, and the 

 superfluous gold is carefully brushed off" with a piece of 

 silk. The flowers and leaves are then painted in colours, 

 and, when dry, the picture and surface of the article is 

 covered with a coat of refined white varnish. 



The second method of inlaying consists in sketching 

 the ornament or design with some kind of varnish not 

 acted upon by acid, upon the piece of the shell ground and 

 polished upon revolving wheels, as in the other case, and 

 then etching away the surrounding unpolished portions by 

 means of an acid. This process possesses several advan- 

 tages, one of which is that it is much cheaper than where 

 the design is cut out by hand. 



But little taste has been exhibited in the decoration of 

 English papier-mache goods, and they have been for the 

 most part vulgar and tawdry in design and execution. 

 Even the Japanese, with all their good taste and artistic 

 skill, have lately imitated closely our style of papier-mache 

 work, without any of that refinement and originality of 

 design of which they are so capable. 



The survey thus taken of the various uses of pearl 

 shells will serve to show how extensive is the range of 

 applications to which they are put, and how important and 

 valuable the commerce in an article of this kind may 

 become. Every day develops some new use for mother-of- 

 pearl, and although the material is not one on which any 

 great artistic skill can be displayed, still trade ingenuity 



