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Ch. 8: Genesis of the Pearl

Ch. 8: Genesis of the Pearl Page of 358 Ch. 8: Genesis of the Pearl Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
THE PEARL
on the face, markings similar to the unexposed portions of the Venezuelan epidermis plates only the hexagonal faces are very much smaller and less distinct. So also the edge of the composite plate appears as series of prisms crossing it from face to face on the plate, in sets which show plainly, lines marking the juncture of the individual plates or waves. Although the individual plates or waves, can only be sepa­rated with great difficulty, together, as com­posite plates, they can be flaked off from the shell very easily, and they crumble and break into fragments under slight pressure. The component plates or waves are very thin, and appear under the microscope as white and translucent planes marked by outlines of the prism faces.
The inner series of these plates as they near the nacreous lining become harder and more compact, and incline more and more to a horizontal position, so that at the point where they abut upon the nacre it is not easy to dis­tinguish them from the nacreous plates. At the thinner end of the shell, about the edges, the plates are all of this nature. They grow
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Ch. 8: Genesis of the Pearl Page of 358 Ch. 8: Genesis of the Pearl
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