Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1891-10-22
PEARLS MADE TO ORDER.
GEMS OF THE OCEAN BY AN AZ
TIFICIAL PROCESS.
One Of the Latest Patents Filed-TAo n
vsn.or Expects to Find 1t Vert
table Goiconda of Wealth
for Himself

for Himself
A process for making real pearls b
artifice is the basis OF an application
for patent newly filed by an ingenious
person. who expects to find in his in
vention q source OF wealth compared
with which Monte Cristo's means were
poverty The material OF which pearls
are composed are cheap enough. says
the Washington Star. Take the she'll
OF q pearl oyster and remove by grind
ing or with an acid the rough outer
coat What have you left?
A sheet of perhaps an eight OF an
inch in thickness Of pure pearl the
precise substance which the bivalve
deposits around any foreign body. like
a grain of sand or occasionally little
fish, that gets caught under its mantle,
thus producing the pearls OF commerce
Why not take this sheet OF nacre dis
solve it in acid and then redeposit the
pearl in layers about buckshOt sus-
pended in the solution. thus initiating
as nearly as possible the method Of
nature? II it were practicable to make
pearls at all in this way perfect ones
could be formed every time, OF any
shape desired.
There would be no difficulty in turn
ing them out as big as billiard balls.
The trouble is that the cOncretions
thus obtained would be mere Jumps Of
carbonate OF lime. lacking entirely the
irrldescence which in the pearls is due
to a structure. 1t is claimed. however,
the difficulty. SO as to be able not only
to manufacture pearls. but also the
plate articles with the material as
forks and spoons are coated with sill
YER.
Conchologist Dali of the Smithso-
MAN Institution. speaking about the
practicabllity OF pearl manufacture.
exhibited very remarkable treasure.
1t was pearl as big as pigeons egg.
OF most exquisite rose color. and the
receptacle containing it was the fresh
water mussel. wherein it had been
originally formed. Explanation was
made that the nucleus of this incom-
parable gem was nothing more or less
than oval lump of beeswax. which had
been placed few years ago between
the valves OF the mullusk.
To protect itself against irrita ton
by this foreign body the animal sur
rounded it with the pink nacre it
secreted for lining its she'll thus trans
forming the bit Of wax into an orna-
ment fit for royal crown. The mus
sci which produced this thing OF beau
ty grew in an Ohio river and was kept
in an aquarium while performing its
unwilling task. 1t is a species OF
bivalve plentiful in streams all over
the United States. and there Is no rea-
son whatever why anyone cannot make
pearls in this way by keeping few
''uniOs." as they are called. In tank
at home. Care should be taken to in
troduce the intended nuclei well under
the mantle OF the fish. not making
them to large, because an object the
size OF pea will acquire a thickness
OF nacre much more rapidly than if
there Is a greater surface to be covered.
1t seems rather curious that this
method of making pearls should not
have proved a commercial success in
Europe. where it has been known for
more than two centuries. Linnaus,
the famous naturalist received knight
hood in 1857 for his discovery of the
process. but the trouble appears to be
that it is too slow to be satisfactory as
d means Of turning out pearls on any
scale for market
For thousands OF years the Chinese
have known how to cause oysters and
mussels to form pearl to order. The
monks at Pm sa CHI pang place in
side the shells small figures OF Buddha.
cut out OF very thin lead foil. These
are soon made part OF the shell itself
by being covered over with q deposit
OF nacre, and the valves thus adorned
with sacred pictures in relief are sold
by the willy priests so pilgrims. who
suppose them to be of miraculous
origin.