MUSCLE. 
573 
cone, and supported upon three feet. In the upper 
flat surface of this small machine, holes are formed 
to receive the larger pearls ; those of a small size 
are beat in with a little wooden hammer. The 
drilling instruments are spindles turned round in a. 
wooden head by means of a bow handle to which 
they are attached. The pearls being placed in 
the holes already mentioned, and the point of the 
spindle adjusted to them, the workman presses on 
the wooden head of the machine with his left hand, 
while his right is employed in turning the bow 
handle. He occasionally moistens the pearl, to ac- 
celerate the process, by dipping the little finger of 
his right hand in a cocoa-nut-shell filled with water, 
which is placed by him for that purpose. This is 
done with a dexterity and quickness which can only 
be acquired by long practice*. 
It is supposed that the pearl is a morbid concre- 
tion, formed in the shell by the animal while in an 
unhealthy state ; and that the jewels will be larger 
or smaller in proportion to the strength of the dis- 
ease. The calcareous matter of which it consists is 
deposited in the same manner as the internal sur- 
face of the shell ; that is, one layer upon another ; 
so that, when cut through the middle, the different 
coats may be traced from the centre of the pearl to 
its circumference. 
Linnaeus made a remarkable discovery relating to 
* Mr. Percival has related several other interesting circum- 
stances respecting the pearl fishery, for which we must refer our 
readers to his Account of the Island of Ceylon. 
