Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-02-27
PEARLS FROM THE OCEAN.
Some Methods Suggested for Making Tsesa
by Artihce-Items About the Fisheries.

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by Artifice-ltems About the Fisheries.
LIVER so MANY EXPERIMENTS HAVE
IL been made with view 10 procuring the
manufacture Of natural pearls through srtifce.
For thousands OF wears the Chinese have prac-
ticed method Of introducing foreign objecs
into oysters and other pearl-bearing mollusks
for the purpose Of coating them with the beau
tiful nacre which adorns the inside OF soma
shells. Since their first trials in this line
initiated numerous efforts have been essaved
to improve upon them. Quite recentlys distin-
euished Frenchman discovered a way Of Rc-
comprising the result which he has declared
to be susceptible of development into an inn
portant industry. Now that the pearl market
of the world is seriously menaced by tho
threatened exhaustion Of the fisheries, II u
high time for human ingenuity 10 step in and
supply the demand
The process adopted by the frenchmsu
aforesaid, NJ. Bouchon-Brandely. is simply 70
bore holes in the shells Of the peari oyster with
gimlet. introducing through these periorA-
tons little balls Of glass and stopping them
Dramatically with corks. After four weeks
time the balls OF glass are found 20 be covered
with thin layer OF pearl In SIX months ths
la!er has become OF a sufficient thickness 20 %
permanent and the bigness Of the jewel thus
manufactured is in proportion 60 the period
aIoNed TO elalse. OF course this has lite limb
talons inasmuch the mollusk will not de-
Posit nAcre Indefinitely. its only object being 10
R, hn Itself from irritation by the intruder
ne pert quoted believes that pearls can 10
A1"ue OF various colors 20 order BY selection
rEARLs or DIFFERENT coLoRs-
Inns slgnihes selection Of the mollusks en-
Pioyea Tor the purpose. Each one naturally
oepos's IT'S own sort Of nacre. Even pearl
oseoSts uiner In that respect producing black
Pe"iis. bra. pearls or pearls Of pure whita
u ietllnes according 70 the part Of the animal
" se we nucleus makes lite Judgment Conchs
OF wel-known variety form pink nearls as 40
also certain fresh-water musseIs snnnosine
tns' there Is anything in N. Bouchon- Rvsn-
uei theory, one can get any color of peari hs
wishes by making choice Of shollfsh. Rreene
experiments made by the United S,at.. a.
commission show that marine moiln.ks "a IN
KINDS can be kept admirably in aonar,a
although previous notions have been LA ~
The contrary, and thus there would seem 40 ~
no goou reason why every one should NOT
maintain his own pearl fishery on A small
scale, collecting valuable crop az suitahl, in
teryals m
A great deal has been done with patp,.l
pearls by artifice already. Partisan ieveler.
some 'iine ago found out a way 20 remove the
outer layers Of these gems OF ocean. when
they were not pretty, as TO reveal the beauty
tnat was within and render them marketable AZ
big prices. Those which were found imbedded
In the mother-of-pearl Of the shell they discoy-
cred a process for extracting treating them
afterward with acid and rendering them OF
value. In a similar fashion they transform
pear-shaped ones into perfect spheres Like
wise they have found means to make pearls of
any color black in bath of nitrate of silver or
TO turn them into rose color. lilac. gray OF what
not However. experts know how TO detect ali
Of these receptions.
PERIsHABLE yALUABLrs.
Pearls are very perishable. They cannot be
considered Q first-rate Investment like dia-
monds- After a time they decay. Sometimes
a fine specimen will lose its luster and beauty
within q few months, 80 that the possessor OF
such treasures does well to keep them put away
In sealed place. They are very delicately
made, consisting OF thin films overaid one
upon another, with more or less animal matter
between the layers. and il is no wonder that
they deteriorate. After being buried in the
ground Tor while they are found worthless
Ihose which are dug out of Indian graves
some OF them of great size and doubtless Of
wonderful beauty when thew were nev-are
H H'terl! Nalueless, even were they not pierced
| ii'eNet lht iess, there IL pure and evanescent
beauty about them which seems better 10 be-
come tne maiden than any other sort Of Jewel
| Nothlhg varies 50 much in value az pe.rls
| WIN them fashion affects the market con-
| stahuy. sometimes white ones are sought
While other tints at intervals are in demsnd
for some Years past black pearls have been the
| sl,OOO perhaps II another can be got 10 match
II perfectly.
/ THE PEARL DIVERS
The most skillful pearl divers in the world
are those of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Tbey
think nothing Of staying under water for three
minutes on occasions. and they carry no weigh,
70 drag them down 10 the depths, as do tie
nshermen OF Ceylon. Unlike the latter thev
90 not stop their ears and nostrils with cotton
soaked with OIL but descend with no other
preparation than a few mutations of their lunps
however, they do wear a sort of head
oress, with spectacles of glass. by the
aa OF which they ere able 70 look
uoSn many iathoms into the clear water
aho mark the oysters which thev propo-e
sather. Forty years ago IL was possible 20
guy Win gallon Of rum or a few handouts of
nour IN those South Sea ISLANDS most beautiful
oiuscan Jewels. but since then the fisheries
nave Deen SO overworked that they are seri-
ousiy threatened with exhaustion Fortunately
Hn pehesed that pearl oysters can. be success
iuny propagated. In that warm region thew
| spawn during all the wear. and win r,o-.-
measures taken for breeding them tberr ~ ,a
reason why they should not be made mo-
| prontable than ever. The rnos, xslr.hl.
mother-of-pearl, which is a product insld,,,,si
70 the peari-fshing industry, is obtained from
Macassar and Is used for making sunantnons
furniture. 1t is worth Ell 600 a ton