he
searched carefully. Enormous quantities of the Unios are destroyed in
the search for pearls, and the supply has become considerably
diminished in consequence. This waste might be avoided if care was used
in opening the shell not to injure the animal. This work is performed
in Germany by a thin blade of steel about an inch in width, and bent at
a right angle about an inch from the end. The thin blade is inserted
between the valves, and then turned at right angles so that the shell
is opened the width of the blade. The operator can then feel about for
pearls, and if none are found return the mollusk to the water without
having injured it. The search for pearls in this country is usually
carried on by persons out of regular employment, and has rarely been
reduced to a systematic occupation. The total value of the pearls which
have been obtained, however, is great, and their price is steadily
increasing. One of the first valuable pearls found in this country was
obtained near Paterson, New Jersey, in 1857. This pearl brought at its
first sale $2,500, and is to-day worth $10,000. A sky-blue pearl
weighing ninety-three grains, found at Caney Fork, Tennessee, in 1897,
was sold in London for $3,300. Pearls valued at from $100 to $1,000 are
frequently found in the waters of the interior States, such as
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Arkansas. In Arkansas large numbers of
valuable pearls have been found loose in the streams, so that many of
the pearl-hunters are of the opinion that the mollusks " shed " their
pearls at intervals. While the region of the Mississippi Valley is that
in which the pearl - bearing mollusks chiefly abound, they occur also
in the waters of the Eastern States, and these furnish an appreciable
supply.
The
common oysters and clams of the temperate sea coasts produce pearls no
less than those of fresh waters; but they lack the desired luster and
transparency, and are considered of no value. Some gastropod, or
univalve mollusks, also produce pearls, among which may be mentioned
the Strombus of the West Indies and the Turritella of the East Indies.
These pearls are of rose tint, but are liable to fade, and lack also
the transparency of the true pearl.
Pearls
seem to have been valued by peoples of all times, both civilized and
uncivilized. The Hebrew Scriptures make frequent references to them,
and there are many incidents in history showing the esteem in which
they were held by the Greeks and Romans. The best known of these is
probably Cleopatra's wager with Antony, that at a single meal she would
swallow the value of a whole province. In pursuance of this boast she
is said to have dissolved a pearl of great value in a glass of sour
wine, and then to have drank the wine. It may be
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