The Red Cloud chief., 1888-08-17
FACTS ABOUT A r
Whore the Finest Are Found and How ThO1d
l;rOwt; alay Be stimulated.

whcrc the Finest Are Found and How Thsf
t;rOwta Aay ISe stimulated.
"As far back AS We have Il history
for any gems" said an Old-time pear
farcier. 1--WE have Il record Of pearls,
and. not even excepting the diamond,
is there ajewel 50 often spoken Of il
history. sacred and profane. AS the
pearl. There is scarcely Il country on
the face of the globe where pearls have
not at ONE period been found. though
at the present day the principal
fisheries are confined to the oasis OF
CeylOn. Japan. Java. Sumatra. Bahrein.
in the Persian Gulf, and the islands in
the vicinity of Panama.
THE best pearls are obtained il the
Persian Gulf. They excel in color.
size. purity and that transluccncy
which gives this gem its greatest value.
The pearl fisheries in the Persian Gulf
are said to yield upward of $l.5OO. 500
annually. Those of Panama reach
about the same figure. Pearls have
also been found in the waters of the
United States. and in 1853 considerable
excitement was OccasiOned by the dis
cOVry of large pearls near Salem. in
New Jersey. A New Jersey pearl.
over an inch in diameter. found near
Paterson. was sem to Paris, where it
was purchased by the Empress Eu.
genie for $4,000. and when the crown
jewels We're sold last year by order Of
the Ferry Government it was resOld
for $500. and is now the property OF a
q wealthy oma of New York.
1.-The pearl is simply carbonate o;
lime. with the addition of films of ami.
NAL membrane between the many
layers of mineral matter that, when
dry. gives the pearl its hardness.
Several species of bivalve m0llusas
secretc pearls. especially the true pearl
oyster. and among fresh water species
those sometimes found HEAR Balti-
r
Can pearls be produced at the will
OF man. Or can they be multiplied
by manipulation: 1t is asserted by
oyster fishermen. and can be accepted
as true. that the pearl oyster has the
power of covering with additional
such portions Ofits shell as need
strengthening. rs well as objects intro
duced by accident or design. The Chi |
nese and Japanese. taking advantage
Of this. have long practiced the art
Of stimulating the secretion by intro |,
beads made of spar or powdered
glass and varniSh. or sometimes turned
rom mOther-Of-pearl. and thus do they
succeed in forcing the animal
% produce pearls at their will, though /,
Of an inferior quality.
Zone of the curious circumstances
connected with the New Jersey pearl
of 1853 was the discovery of u
shells showing that many years
before some one had experimental upon
he pearl-bearing oyster by dropping
small mOther-of-pearl buttons inside
ne shell. hoping that the animal
in course of time. cover them
vith its secretion. The experiments
a failure however. the result
that the buttons became fastened
o the shells by the action of the secre-
ion. but did not develop into pearls"
Some time ago Il number of small
,earls of the kind known in commerce
$ ''seed pearls" YER sent from BOr-
leo. under the name of breeding
These pearls are enclosed in
glass tube along with some grains Of
ice Ito feed upon" The sender gravely !
that it had long been known
, BOrneO that pearls when put up for Z
ONE time in a box along with rice :
'Ould reproduce their kind. Three or i
our months afterward the grains of $
ice enclosed with the pearls had the !
Of being partially eaten. {
t is now several years since this ship 8
lent of pearls and their food was re- e
but the rice does not seem to
ave diminished to any greater extent u
han when they arrived. and the pearls q
are no greater in circum- c
.rence than when first scen.-N. i. .
etter. II