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PEARLS.
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of
North America, and at the West Indies. Pearls produced by shells which
inhabit the rivers and lakes of Great Britain and foreign countries are
described iu Chapter XIV., and the artificial production of pearls by
the Chinese is also here referred to. The different kinds of coloured
pearls, and the mollusks which produce them, are then treated of. In
the succeeding chapter the most famous pearls of both ancient and
modern times are recounted, and the immense sums at which some of them
were valued are stated. Chapter XVII. gives the history of the
remarkable cluster of pearls known as " the great Southern Cross
pearl," which was exhibited in the West Australian Court of the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition, and valued by the owneis at io,oOoA The
next and concluding chapter is devoted to the value of pearls, and
shows how their worth has varied in this country at different periods
from 1671 to the present time.
A
map is then introduced showing the principal pearling regions. In an
appendix, the works bearing on the subject which have been consulted by
the author are enumerated, and a full index completes the volume.
Mr.
Streeler has brought together a large amount of information which will
be of interest to the general reader, for whom especially, and not for
the scientific, the work has been written. The most original material
is comprised in the part extending from the seventh to the tenth
chapter. The chapter devoted to the Sooloo Archipelago contains some
details which, although interesting in themselves, are rather foreign
to the subject of the work.
The same observation applies to the account of the constellation Crux Australis, or Southern Cross, introduced in the seventeenth chapter.
As
far as we have noticed, the various opinions and statements set forth
in the work are mostly accurate. It may, however, be questioned whether
" there is perhaps no instinct implanted in the human breast more
powerful than the love admiration," for is not that of
self-preservation supposed to regin supreme? We would point out that
the term Lamellibranchiata is now supersed by that of Pelccypoda, and
with good and sufficient reasons is adopted in the latest and best
manuals on conchology. The bathymetrical range of bivalvs far exceeds
the stated limit—200 .fathoms—specimens having been obtained by the Challennger and, other deep-sea exploring expeditions in depths ranging as low down as 2,900 fathoms.
The
book is printed in good legible type upon toned paper, but the
pictorial portion mars the rest. The plates illustrating the Malleus, the Meleagrina, the Unto,, the Pinna, the Strombus, and the Turbinella are
simply execrable. They are printed upon a fearful black ground (one
almost expects to see " Sacred to the memory of," &c), inclosed by
a thin white line with ornamental corners, and seem to us to have a
most common appearance. We cannot see one redeeming feature in them,
the drawing and colouring of the shells being equally bad. If another
edition is called for, fresh and accurat illustrations should be
provided.—E. A. S.—Nature.
_The pearl shells arc beautifully engraved in Tennent's Natural History of Ceylon.—Compilers.]
THE METHOD OF COMPUTING THE VALUE OF PEARLS AT MADRAS.
Pearls are sold at a certain stipulated price per chour as the parties may agree.
Seed pearls or such as are below 600 sieve are sold by the ounce Troy or other weight.
The chour is more or less valuable as the pearls are more or less perfect or agreeable to existing taste.
At
Madras, pearls are strung in lengths nearly about that required for a
woman's necklace. Of these strings any number composed of similar
pearls and of the same number are collected into a bunch or bundle.
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