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BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
Pearls of some beauty are not infrequent in these Mussels, 
but they are rarely large or perfect enough to be of value. 
Forbes and Hanley say, — “They are commonly small, ill- 
colored, and of little value, yet have been at various times 
much sought for.” They have brought from one shilling 
and sixpence to four shillings per ounce. In the “First 
Report on the Fauna of Liverpool Bay,” p. 241, we are told, 
— “ Some years ago, large quantities of Mussels were raked 
up in Conway Bay, and boiled in huts on the east shore to get 
seed pearls. These were bought by a traveller at four shillings 
per ounce. A woman could earn twelve shillings per week at 
this harvest. The trade has ceased.” Sometimes the whole 
interior of the shell is covered with little pearl-like excres- 
cences, the result of the efforts of the animal to protect 
itself from a boring sponge. 
Simmonds, in “Commercial Products of the Sea,” tells 
•us of the shells, — “ When polished, they are made into pretty 
needle-books and scent-bottle holders, earrings, crosses, pins 
and pin-cushions. They are mounted on marble as paper 
weights, and are used as a receptacle for gold and silver paint 
for artists. The Maories of New Zealand employ Mussel 
shells as tweezers to eradicate the hair from their faces.” 
Mr. Ingersoll says the American Indians also used them for 
the latter purpose. 
The shells are also spread on Oyster-beds by cultivators, as 
a support to which the young Oysters may attach themselves. 
On Mussel Culture. 
As in the case of the Oyster, the demand for Mussels in 
Europe is far too great to be supplied from natural beds. 
Extensive cultivation is the only remedy, and in this France 
leads all other countries. A full treatment of the subject, 
for which we have not space here, will be found by those 
interested, in the volumes of the Fisheries Exhibition Litera- 
ture and other works quoted below. A very brief outline 
must suffice here. There are two modes of culture practised 
dn Europe; one known as the British method, in which young 
Mussels are taken from salt or nearly salt water and trans- 
