Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-08
BODY IN the course Of time il actually passed
through the shell and thus got rid of.

ANCIENT USE OF MoTHER-oF-PEARL.
The use OF mother-of-pear for articles Of or
nament is OF no recent date. Objects made Of
1t have been found by digging in the ruins Of
ancient Nineveh and Babylon. It was only q
few years ago that the so-called "smoked pearl
came INTO use for the manufacture Of >buttons.
Previously the black-edged shells, from which
this sort OF pearl Is obtained, had been thrown
away. being considered worthless Buttons of
smoked pearl having become the rage, it was
remembered that large quantities Of dark shells
had been buried In certain places at Birming-
ham, England, to get rid Of them. Many Of
them were dug up and sold TO great advantage.
1t was said at the time that the town hall Of
that city was built on such great heaps Of the
shells that, reckoning the current market
prices, 1t would almost pay to pull down the
building and reconstruct it for the sake of OBJ
tanning the Shells Of course enormous quanti-
ties OF mother-of-pearl are used at Birmingham
for handles Of cutlery, 30.
Workers in mother-of-pearl occasionally find
real pearls embedded in the shells When q
pearl gets between the shell and the body of a
living oysterthe latter treats it as it would any
other foreign object, closing it up in the wall
OF the shell by means Of a blister Thus IL
sometimes happens that on cutting into blister
fine pearl is discovered. On one occasion a
pearl cutter got apearl in this way which he
sold FOR $500. Subsequently 1t was valued at
81, 900. In countries where mother of pearl is
abundant, 1t is sometimes employed as a deco
rative material in architecture. In the Channel
Islands. where the beautiful ear shells are
abundant, they are let into the walls Of houses,
arranged in symmetrical patterns. Pearl shells
are worth from $500 to 81, 900 ton
1t used to be imagined that pearls were found
only IN diseased shell fish They were called
morbid secretions." To this day many people
throw away as unfit for use mussel or oyster
In which pearl is found. However, there is
no reason for such notion. A pearl ia formed
about any foreign body that is retained between
the shells OF a healthy oyster or other nacre-
producing mollusk. The nucleus may be q
grain OF sand or even one Of the eggs Of the
oyster itself. Around this thin layers Of nacre
are deposited one after another, like the sue
cessive skins of an onion. thus forming the
pearl. The substance Of the latter is the same
as that of the shell.
When Columbus visited some Of the islands in
the Gulf of Mexico he found the natives fishing
for pearls. which they used as beads for neck
laces.
BLACK PEARLS VALUABLE.
Black pearls used to be held as Of small
value comparatively speaking. They were
first made fashionable by the Empress Eugene,
wife Of Napoleon III. who possessed n famous
necklace Of them, which fetched $4,000 at
auction after the overthrow of the imperial
dynasty. This did not include the single great
pearl forming the snap. which was purchased
by the Marquis Of Bath for $4,000 Mexico.
Tahiti and Fiji supply the markets of the
world with black pearls.
The most extraordinary pearl in the world,
according to DIR. Streeter, l. known as the
Southern Cross" 1t is probably tho most
remarkable thing Of its kind that nature has
ever produced. So far as is known il occupies
an absolutely unique position in the history OF
pearls 1t consists OF group OF nine pearls
naturally grown together In SO regular a man
ner as to form an almost perfect Latin cross.
Seven OF them compose the shaft. which
measures an inch and half in length, while
the two arms of the CT. IS are formed by one
pearl on each side. All the pearls are Of fine
luster.
This astonishing freak was discovered by a
man named Clark. while pearl fishing in west
ern Australia. He regarded 1t a miracle and
entertaining a superstitious dread of it, he
buried 1t. In 1874 it was dug up again, and
since then it has changed hands many times
It's value is set at $50. 600
How II came about that these pearls were
grouped together in such a manner no one
has yet been able to explain satisfactorily. II
has been suggested that fragment of serrated
seawecd may have got into the shell of the
oyster. and that the succession of teeth along
the margin of the frond may have caused the
deposition OF nacre at regular intervals, so as
to form string OF pearls in straight line
L he cross was found in the shell of the molusk.
Just as 1t was taken from its native element,
without any possibility of its having been sub
Jected to human manipulation.