Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-07-02
Making the Oyster Produce Pearls.


bic and lethargic oyster to work for him
achieved victory over the animal crea
ton as worthy of our laurels-at least to
the point of ingenuity-as the subject of
keen desire of greed could have suggested
such feat, a determination to spur the
mollusc to greater industry in the pro-
duction of a Jewel that must have have
charmed it's first discoverer by it's soft
and splendid beauty. We shall never
know who it was that first persuaded the
oyster to do what nothing but an oyster
can do. who Goaded and harassed that
torpid intelligence to minister to the van
ity of men. But he deserves an immortal
ty of fame that can never now be con-
ferred upon him.
The problem was no doubt first suggest
ed by the fact that even among pearl
bearing oysters the number of shells con-
tanning pearls was very small. Scores
single treasure to reward the seeker If
the oyster had any free will in the mat
ter at all-and it is hard to associate the
oyster with the idea of free will-why
ing jewel while it's comrades for yards
around were content to lie in unproduc-
tive sloth? The conditions of tempera
ture. food and location were identical.
Why then these differences in activity?
The Chinese had solved the problem
even before it had presented itself to the
Western mind. The guileless Celestial
knew how the milk got into the cocoanut
or rather the pearl into the oyster shell
long before the western mind had evolv-
ed the poetic but not very profound the
DRY that pearls were CONCEALED dewdrops
although how the dewdrOps penetrated
the bivalve was never clearly stated
The dewdrop theory finally gave way to
the more tolerable belief that pearls were
one seems to have wondered why the
number of pearl bearing oysters should
ho SO small and at a time when race sui
eide had not become human. much less
ft.t, ,t,t,, f,tl
But to return to the Chinese. who was
at work upon this problem many cen
turies ago. who had never shown any
great .as . eagerness to share his knowledge
world. The Chinese speedily discovered
that the pearl was due to nothing more
than an attempt on the part of the oys-
ter to protect himself from the irritation
of foreign instrument. such as a grain
of sand. into his shell
The oyster. beneath a rough and for
bidding exterior. conceals a tender and
sensitive nature. and it will sometimes
happen that fragment of rock or an
atom, of shell is washed by the tide into
his fortress and refuses to be dislodSed
Making virtue of necessity and annoy
cd by the angularities of the unwelcome
guest. he proceeds to cover it smoothly
with a secretion similar to the nacre with
which he lines the interior of his own
cess is simplicity itself when you know
how it is done. and the ingenious Chinese
proceeded at once to turn his discovery to
his own advantage.
d. T. Mcgowan. in the Journal of
the Society of Arts. tells us something of
a process that is now no longer a secret
The shells are gently separated and the
nucleus of the pearl is inserted under the
feshy mantle within small fragment
of mud is used for the nucleus or else
a tiny leaden image of some god. When
theS" have been placed in position the
shells are allowed to close and the ami
mai is carefully placed in a stream of
water and fed regularly with manure
when the shells are opened the inserted
moved. AS a rule the original nucleus.
Hf "an@ or leaden image. is eX-
tracted from the pearl and the cavity left
u Wit is filled with wax.
Sir"e that time tho manufactu of ar
tifCal pearls has become an extensive
industry. in which the Japanese have es-
'""'a''v "xccl'ed large area of sea
bottom in the province of Shina is de-
voted wholly to the purpose. and it is said
fhat million oysters have been laid
down, al !of them containing the irritat
ing, nuclei. which the unfortunate ami
mails are coating to their own destruc-
H"n. Four years are allowed for the pro-
cess, and the resulting pearls. while by no
means perfect. are sufficiently attractive
That they are not equal to the pearls
naturally produced is proof that some
hin" SUI remains to he learned. Evil
IDENTIFY the oyster himself is yet in tcna-
'''uS p'SS''SSloIl oi exclusive information.
The artificial pearl is not so beautiful. it
is not so well shaped. and its lower s,r~-
ear" is usually without any luster at all
Such .,earls are therefore unsuitable for
necklaces, but they can he readily adapt
cd to those other forms of jewelrv where
in only half the pearl is in sight such as
rings and brooches. 1t may he that the
oyster, although he is VIGOROUSLY uncom-
initial. can yet be persuaded to give lp
BIS secret. Time and continued expert
ment may show the mystery of his work
shop.