The St. Louis Republic., 1901-10-06
REMARKABLE PEARL
ARTIfICIALLY MADE,
Tiny Ball of Wax Inserted Inside
the Shell of a
Mollusk.
EXPERIMENT WAS SUCCESSFUL.
Smithsonian Institution Has the
Pearl Oh Exhibition-SOme
Other and Interesting
Displays.
EXPERIMENT WAS SUCCESSFUL.
REPUBLIC SPECIAL.

| REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
! Washington, oct. 5-The Smithsonian In
stitution has recently acquired the most
remarkable artificial pearl in existence. 1t
Is about inch and half in length. oval
in form. and an exquisite pink in color. II
1t were not fiawed it would be worth an
enormous sum of money. but even in Its
present condition 1t IL priceless as Il curl
osity
This pearl was made by introducing n
I bail of beeswax into the shell of a living
| fresh-water mussel-one of those bivalves
common in many rivers of the United
States. which frequently yield fine pearls.
occasionally producing n gem of this kind
worth many thousands of dollars. The
nacrc secreted by moilusks of this genus
is pink. often bordering on salmon. and tho
pearls obtained from them are among the
most beautiful in the world.
I The ball of wax vas placed near the hinge
of the bivalve. which. being kept in tank
of fresh water. was carefully watched. Tn
der such circumstances. Of course. mollusk
tries to protect itscif from irritation by COW
cring the foreign object with smooth coat
ing of pearl stuff-thc same material as that
which it uses for lining its own shell.
This Is exactly what the mussel did In the
|. case described and the result was an
| enormous pearl Owing to pressure. how
and The pearl became oval in form.
At the end of two years the mussel was
taken out of the tank and opened for the
purpose of removing the pearl which was
given. together with the bivaive which pro-
duced it. to the Smithsonian Institution.
Contraction of the waXen core due to dry
ing. caused il to crack.
This misfortune. while destroying its
commercial value. made it possible to oh
serve the thickness Of the nacreous coat
which is somewhat greater than that of a
sheet of ordinary letter paper.
"WINDOW SHELL" MOLLUSkS.
Another Very Interesting specimen newly
added to the Smithsonian collection is
mollusk of a species that furnishes the ma
tives of the Philippine Islands with an ar
ticle of important domestic usefulness Its
two valves are perfectly fiat and quite trans
lucent. SO that It Is matter of ready con-
venience to set them into the walls of Il
dwelling where they serve in lieu of panes
of glass. Hence the bivalVe gets the name
of window she'll"
In this Government collection Of mollusis
are others equally remarkable in their way,
though none more so than Il kind OF clam
called the phoias. native OF Europe. wnicn
makes its nest among rocks ai0rg The sea-
shore. 1t borcs It's way actually into solid
! granite. and. having made for Itself Il sat
sfactory burrow, lies there cozy and COM
Portable. protected from enemies. For Il
long time naturalists have disputed as to
the manner III which the boring was accom-
/ risfcd. but 1t seems probable that the ami
NAL does the york w.th its ''loct." which.
Icing covered with fintv 'sp!cules. acts a
drill
Another object Of interest is a very ordi-
nary locking glove. which, nevertheless. is
decided curiosity, being woven out Of
silk spun by the so-calied 'silkworm of
the sea''-a mollusk found in the Mediter-
raDean. shell of this animal Is shown
next 10 the glove. The creature. which
makes the silk for the purpose of an clor-
ing itself, as by a cable. buries itself in the
sand of the bottom. leaving only the knife
like edge of It's shell pro:rudine. so that
anybody who chances TO step upon II is
likely to have his foot severely cut. The
delicate and beautiful fiber spun by The
'siikworm of the sea Is not utilized COM
mercally.
Another interesting exhibit is fossil
snake which was sent into the Smith
sonian Institution net long ago. The per-
son who found it was probably Sincere In
lis notion as to the rertil:an character of
the object. but the experts promptly identi-
fed IL as chain of egg cases frcm large
oonch. Such marine gasteropOds lay their
eggs in this curious fashion. d number be-
ing contained In each one of the hundreds
cf hollow disks composing the string. When
atched the Young remain imprisoned until
they have scquired shells. when. in the
guise of :iny cOnchs. TIE! make their way
out and start in life for themselves.
INTERESTING SNAIL ISAHIBITS.
Whereas these marine snails breathe with
silis. as fstes do. and lay their eggs IN she
.nanI er described the great land snails are
provided swith lungs. and their eggs lock