the results of the production. The rose-colored Scotch pearls,
obtained from the fresh-water mussel, frequently found of considerable size, sometimes weighing several carats, are regarded
with general favor in England. Pearls are also found in.
Ireland, Bohemia, Germany, France, Sweden, and Russia.
The European varieties, even when large and well shaped,
are inferior in brilliancy and play of colors to the oriental and
the American pearls. The best specimens occur in the oldest
shells, considerable time being required to bring them to perfection.
They are sometimes obtained by dredging, but usually they
are brought up from the rocks in the ocean, to which they
attach themselves, by divers trained for the purpose. The
business is attended with danger, largely from sharks, but in
regard to its effect upon the health of the divers, different
views are taken, some judges considering it injurious, while
others do not regard the occupation as especially harmful t&
the constitution. The use of the diving-belt, — a modern contrivance, — will, it is believed, greatly reduce the perils to
which divers are exposed. The natives trust for safety in the
power of the shark-charmers, who pretend to render these
dangerous monsters harmless by certain incantations ; at the
English fisheries in Ceylon, they are paid by the government,
whose policy it is to keep up the delusion.
The time during which divers can remain under water
varies from about two to six minutes, which may be extended
by modern appliances, and experts make from forty to fifty
descents in one day, securing, on an average, one hundred
oysters each time. The greatest depth reached by these
fishermen is reckoned to be fifteen fathoms,—ninety feet,__
while the usual depth is nine fathoms, or fifty-four feet.
Their descent is accelerated by artificial weight, each diver
