98 • The Pearl Oyster of Ceylon, [no. 5, new series. 



others should not have made these observations, (which are so sim- 

 ple in their nature, but yet conclusive of the possibility " of trans- 

 lating Pearl Oysters from their original rocky beds to other more con' 

 venient locations.'' 1 



Who can tell what the results might have been, had Dr. Wright's 

 views been carried out ? I know of my medical brother's Report 

 (made I believe in 1803), only from the brief notice taken of it in 

 Mr. Boyd's observations, and quoted by Captain Steuart, in the 

 Appendix to his work (page 5b). Mr. Boyd's observations clearly 

 indicate, that Dr. Wright proposed, some thirty years ago, the 

 transplanting the animals to places convenient for fishing them, 

 when they arrive at maturity. Either Dr. Wright did not observe 

 the facility with which the Oyster reforms its byssus ; or he was 

 misunderstood by Mr. Boyd, who remarks further on, "that surely 

 as the animal has not the power of regaining its adhesion, after 

 it is once detached, it cannot, when once broken away from its 

 attachment, fix itself again, and must either perish, or be carried 

 away by the current." 



Now, it is very gratifying to me to be able to speak positively 

 on this subject ; and this I do hopefully, as I have observed the 

 Pearl Oyster detaching itself spontaneously from its old moorings, 

 in a glass vivarium and attaching itself to another part of the 

 glass vessel, not once only but have noticed, that some Oysters 

 will go through this process a dozen times, in less than a month. 

 In addition to the above related facts, I have successfully established 

 a colony of Pearl Oysters near Fort Frederick, in the open sea, at 

 various depths ; and have also Oysters which have been living for 

 several months in wooden boxes, finger glasses, glass globes, chat- 

 ties, and large canoes, sunk in the sea. Some were thrown into 

 the sea, after being removed from the inner harbour and kept in 

 my house in chatties and tubs for two and three days. The byssus 

 of most of them had been broken and torn from the rock. These 

 they have cast off, and are now living attached to each other, and to 

 pieces of coral, and to rocks, exposed to all the influences of the 

 sea. 



When an Oyster is first put into a vivarium, it sickens, i. e,, 

 the mantle becomes retracted, and a collapse is observed \ — in a 



