The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-03-27

PEARLS AND PEARL CULTURE.
As FAR back as we have history for |
any gems we have record of pearls;
and, not even excepting the diamond,
is there Jewel so often spoken of in
history, sacred and profane, as this one.
produced? Are they capable of being
multiplied by artp In view of the great |
commercial value of these jewels, such
queries are of considerable Importance.
There is scarcely country on the face
of the globe where pearls have not at
some period been found, though at the
present day the principal fisheries are
near the Coast Of Ceylon, Japan, Java,
Sumatra, Bahrein in the Persian Gulf,
and the islands in the vicinity of Pana-
ma. OF all these, however, none equal
those obtained in the Persian Gulf, in
color, size, purity and that translucency
which gives this gem its great value.
The pearl fisheries in the last named
locality are said to yield upward of
81 SOC, 900 annually; those of Panama
reach about the same figure. Pearls
have also been found in various streams
of the United States. and in 1858 con-
siderable excitement was occasioned
by the discovery of some large-sized
ones near Salem, in New Jersey. A
New Jersey pearl, over an inch in diam
eter, found near Paterson, was sent to
Paris, where it was purchased by the
Empress Eugene for 1880 francs
($2,5OO).
This gem was held in great estima-
ton by the Romans, who paid enor-
nous prices for fine specimens. Julius
Cesar is said to have possessed one, the
value of which would now be $3.50, 600,
and Pliny states that the pearls in
the eardrOps of Cleopatra, and which
she swallowed to the health of Mark
Antony, were valued at a sum that
would amount to 100000 of our
money. Tavernier mentions a pearl
found at Catira, on the Coast of Ara
bia, in 1888, which was sold to the King
of Persia for $28O,OOO. The "Pere-
guine," found in 1874, during some of
the filibustering expeditions to America
and carried to Spain (where it now re-
mains among the crown jewels), is
valued at $751;, 800. Pope Leo X. had a
pearl that was valued at $4,000; and
the crown jewels of Portugal have
among them pear-shaped one, weigh
ing about Is carats. A close examine
ton of the subject reduces the great
pearls of the world to a very limited
number; the large examples running
over 20 carats in weight, which are alb
solutelY known to exist at the present
day, do not number over score.
Having spoken of the value of these
jewels, we are led to consider the ques-
ton, What are they, and how are they
formed? According to an old and
popular fancy, pearls are dewdrops
transmogrified. Pliny asserts that the
oysters rise to the surface in the night
TO feed upon the dews of heaven. which
the suns rays upon the water nour-
ish into pearls. According to Boe-
THUS de Bovelt: 1.-THE mussels, early
in the morning, in the gentle, cleare
and calme aire, lift up their upper
shells and mouthes above the water,
and these receive the fine and pleasant
breath or dew of heaven; and after
ward, according to the measure and
quantitie of this vital force received,
they first conceive, then swell, aud
finallie produce the pearle.'' At this
very day, in the East, the belief exists
that these gems are the drops of rain,
which, as they fall into the sea, be-
come pearls, and in that state are
swallowed by the oyster. A stay was
given to such belief by Cardonus, who
demonstrated that these shell fish have
their homes upon the sea bottom,
where they are firmly attached to
rocks and other substances, and have
therefore no power to rise. Still this
fancy survived till the researches of
Mr.. Gray and Sir Everard Home proved
that pearls are merely the internal
nacreous coat of the shell, which, from
some cause or other, has assumed a
spherical form. Homes idea, howev-
er, that the pearl is an abortive egg
of the oyster enveloped in its own ma
ere, is scarcely worthy the trouble of
refutation.
A theory was started at one time that
the pearl proceeded from q wound on
the shell of the animal. This view was
held by Linn9us, who suggested to the
Swedish Government plan for max
ing pearl by boring holes through the
thells of the mollusk. He received
$2,25O for his plan, which, on trial,
was successful. 1t was at one time
thought, too, that the pearl muscle
covered small particles of sand, which
accident had introduced between its
shells, with pearly matter for protec-
ton. That this is not the case is
proved by the fact that, though num-
berless pearls have been split and
sawed through the center, it is very
seldom that an imperfection is found
even of the minutest size.
The theory of Reaumur is now gen.
orally held to be the correct one; and
that is, that the pearl is a concretion of
the juices consequent upon disease
or rupture in the mollusk, without the
introduction of any foreign matter.
The pearl is simply carbonate of lime
rather harder than calcspar, of which
it has precisely the same chemical
composition. but with the addition of
films of animal membrane between
the many layers of mineral matters
which 90 to form it. 1t is this animal
matter which, when dry, gives the
pearl its hardness. Several genera
and species of bivalve mullusks secrete
pearls, especially the Avicssla naargariti.
fera or true pearl oyster; and among
fresh-water species, the U,aio naargarit-
ifera. 1t is found that only the old
animals produce the gems; the. fishers
do not look for them nor expect them
from the young and smooth shelled;
the more aged and distorted the shell,
the greater the probability of find of
pearls.
Can pearls be produced at the will of
man, or multiplied by his aid? This
is an important query; for, if it be pos
sible to do so, way is opened for the
cultivation Of q valuable industrv (,or-