Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-05-22
MOTHER OF PEARL.
And "SOme Asked How Pearls
Did Grow"
SAFE METHOD OF PEARL PLANTING
Lustre and Beauty of the Real Gem-How
to Distinguish Natural from
Artificial Pearls.

The basis upon which diamonds are
valued is the same all over the world.
while the cost of the pearl varies with
the country where it happens to be pur-
chased. Europeans and Americans in
sist upon the purest white, but Eastern
nations want the pearl only when it
has yellowish cast.
Pearl, the substance, is mainly car
Donate of lime, and is looked for chiefly
in what is called the true pearl oyster,
although it is frequently found in other
bivalve mollusks. The chemical COM
position called pearl is continually de-
posted ON the inside of the oyster
shell, and the coating formed is called
mother pearl. Sometimes a grain of
creep into the bivalve and irritate the
delicate tissues of the shell-fish. Ma
ture has carefully povided that when
ever this occurs the calcareous deposit
shall be diverted from its normal rest
ing place and gather about the inter-
loper for the protection of the tender
mollusk. Men. however, long ago
oiSOofOAOu ohio oOlOholAO ldCU anu
promptly proceeded to introduce for
eign substances into bivalves with such
ingenuity that pearls of various shapes
and dimensions are made to grow,
almost to order, from the shiny mineral
secretion which is called nacre.
For instance, one can take little
pellet of dirt, dry it, powder it, posi-
~ with no addition, nH nh ao1
juice as the Chinese do, and in May or
June plant it in an oyster. The bivalve
has to be carefully opened and the pills
put under the osyter's beard, then the
mollusks themselves are planted in safe
pools and rivulets to be dredged for in
the succeeding November When the
oysters are opened after this lapse of
time. little nacre-covered pellets. are
found fastened tightly to the dinner
surface of the shells and have to be
carefully removed with sharp knife.
Another and safer method of pearl
planting, because it is much less likely
to kill the shell-fish, is to bore holes
in the oyster-shell, insert the foreign
ubstance-either dirt or globules of
glass-and plug the holes with cork.
After six months the harvest of pearls
will be ready for the reaper. When
dirt is used as nucleus for the manu-
featured pearl, a hole must be bored
and the foreign substance removed.
after which the cavity is filled with
yellow resin and the opening sealed
with bit Of mother-of pearl. When
glass is used to irritate the mollusk,
this extra work is avoided and the
pearl is all ready for market, unless,
of course, it happens to be so imperfect
in color or surface as to be unstable.
The skilled jeweler is prepared for such
contingencies. Pearl, as I have indi-
Gated, is made up of layers of nacre and
animal tissue, the outer layer being of
nacre and exceedingly hard. With the
aid of sharp knives, delicate files and
other similar instruments layer of
nacre can be Clipped off, and perfect
pearl be uncovered. How skillful the
workman must be can be estimated
from the fact that each layer is too
thin to be seen by the naked eye.
While manufactured pearls frequently
have much of the lustre and beauty of
the real gem, they have not the same
market value and can usually be dis
tinguished from natural pearls because
artificial pearls are most frequently fiat
on one side.
The natural pearl fisheries of Ceylon
and Coromandel are among the most
famous in the world, and have been
the source of some Of the finest pearls
ever since the time of Pliny. The
divers make a half hundred descents
each day to the bottom of water several
fathoms deep. They remain under
water from sixty to ninety seconds,
knocking oysters from the rocks with a
large stone. The bivalves are placed
in bag for transportation to the sur
face The fisheries are now under the
control of the English Government.
Some of the most valuable natural
pearls ever found in America were
oothered from mussels dradped from