116 
EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 
a string from the end of a long stick, so as to make a 
clattering noise when moved by the wind.* 
Haliotidse in great quantities are brought to Birming- 
ham from various parts of the world, for making mother- 
of-pearl ornaments, inlaying papier-mache tables, etc., 
and also for making buttons. An instance has been 
known of a ship arriving at London from Panama, 
bringing more than two millions of pearl-shells for the 
English markets. 
The wholesale price in the Channel Islands for shells 
of the first quality is £10 per ton, and by retail they are 
sold at \d. per lb. 
Mother-of-pearl, however, is not only made from the 
Haliotidse, but the snail pearl-shell Turbo cornutus, the 
white pearl-shell, Meleagrma margaritifera, are also used 
in this manufacture. Curiously carved pearl-shells, the 
work of the monks at Bethlehem, are sold by them to pil- 
grims and others who visit the Holy Land, and Bruce 
states that mother-of-pearl inlaying was brought to great 
perfection at Jerusalem. The nacre was from the Lulu 
el Berberi, or Abyssinian oyster. Great quantities were 
brought daily from the Bed Sea to Jerusalem, and cru- 
cifixes, wafer-boxes, and beads were made and sent to 
the Spanish dominions in the New World.f 
In the days of luxury at Borne, the pannels in the 
golden house of Nero were of mother-of-pearl, enriched 
with gold and gems and dishes, bowls, and cups of 
pearl-shell, were greatly esteemed in the sixteenth and 
seventeenth centuries. Lei and, in his Collectanea,^ § 
describes the christening of the child of the Lady Cicile, 
* Jeffreys’ ‘ British Conchology,’ vol. i. ; Introduction, Ixix. 
t Bruce’s Travels ; see appendix, vol. viii. p. 337, 338. 
X ‘ Gems and Jewels,’ p. 21. § Vol. ii. p. 691. 
