1846.] 
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE. 
561 
The Chinese use large quantities in tho manufacture of combs, boxes, toys, &c„ 
The marts of this are Canton and Singapore, from where it is sent to Europe and 
the United States. The price varies from one thousand to eleven hundred dollars 
per pecul. The thin kind from the Pacific is not saleable in Canton. 
Bezoar.—This is a concretion found in the stomachs of several animals, but that of 
the goat was formerly most prized, and has sold for ten times its weight in gold; 
but since its constituent parts has been ascertained it is not so much sought after. 
The bezoar differs in the same species of animals, but that of the cow is most prized 
in China, and is valued at from twenty to twenty-five dollars a catty. It is caused 
b y disease of the animals, and is only used for medicine. 
Bicho-de-Mar.—This slug, as its name imports, is a product of the sea. This 
animal is of a dark or brown color, from four to six inches in length, and from a 
half to one inch diameter. It forms one of the most important articles of commerce 
between the islands of the Indian Archipelago and China, with the exception of 
perhaps pepper. It is found on all the islands from New Holland to Sumatra, and 
on most of those of the Pacific. It is found in most abundance on small coral 
islands. The Chinese call it “Hog-shum.” It is taken by the hand with the 
natives, they diving for it; and after it has been cleansed, dried, and smoked, it 
is fit for sale. Latterly, Americans have been engaged in it, and have found it 
profitable, by visiting islands but little known in the Pacific. The Chinese use it in 
large quantities as food, and when boiled it is tremulous like pigs’ feet, and rather in¬ 
sipid, but no doubt very nourishing, and they also think it an excellent aphrodisiac. 
The varieties into which they divide it are about thirty, varying in price from eighty 
to one hundred and fifty dollars per pecul. About seven thousand peculs are brought 
from Macassar annually, and about the same from Manilla. 
Bird’s-nests.—This article, which owes its celebrity only to the whimsical luxury 
of the Chinese, is brought principally from Sumatra and Java, also from Borneo, 
and most of the rocky islets of the Indian Archipelago. It is the nest of a small 
swallow, the hirundo esculenta. It is composed of a mucilaginous substance, per¬ 
fectly insipid to the taste, and is used principally in soup, and is held in still higher 
reputation as an aphrodisiac than bicho-de-mar. They are of a light color, in¬ 
clining to red, about four inches long and two inches wide, and about a quarter of 
an inch in thickness, and when dry, they are brittle and wrinkled. Those that are 
dry, white, and clean, are most valued. They are packed in bundles, run through 
them to preserve their shape. Those procured after the young are fledged are not 
saleable in China. The qualities of the nests vary with the caves in which they 
are found. Those that are most prized and bear the highest price, are taken before 
the nests are lined with feathers, while those with eggs are still valuable, but those 
that the young birds have remained in some time are dark colored, streaked with 
blood, dirty, and not saleable. The nests are procurable twice a year. Those 
procured in the deepest, dampest caves are the best. It was at one time supposed 
that they were only found near the coast, but they are obtained for more than fifty 
miles in the interior, as in Borneo, which refutes the idea that they are formed from 
bicho-de-mar or the spawn of fish. The business of obtaining these nests is at 
some places extremely perilous, it being necessary to descend from precipitous cliffs, 
by means of bamboo and cords, where the sea is breaking furiously below, and often 
necessary to use torch lights in the caves, where the slightest slip would be fatal 
to the adventurer. They are only purchased by the Chinese, by whom they are 
carried to Canton in junks, where there are merchants who deal extensively in this 
trade, and many persons are employed in picking the feathers and dirt from them, 
after being immersed in water until being softened, and many are broken and torn 
to pieces in the process. The best or white kind are often worth four thousand 
dollars per pecul, which is nearly twice their weight in silver. The middling kind 
is worth from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred dollars, while the worst is worth 
from one fifty to two hundred dollars per pecul. The best is sent to Pekin for the 
use of the court. It appears to be only an article of expensive luxury among the Chi¬ 
nese, the Japanese not using them at all; and how they came at first to use them, is in¬ 
deed as singular as their persevering in it at such expense. The expense to render 
at fit for the table is enormous, where it is used in soup or made into a jelly. It is 
a monopoly with all the governments where it is found. About twenty-five thous¬ 
and peculs, at a ( value of one million two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, 
