of
Messrs. Tiffany & Co., was purchased from Mr. Howell for $1500.
This pearl resembles a crown, having three smaller pearls resting upon
the large pearl ; another representation of a pearl weighing nearly
four hundred grains, here represented, was destroyed by cooking the
mussel in order to open it better, and the color of the nacre has been
spoiled ; it would, probably, have been the largest pearl of modem
times, and of immense value.
The alasmadonta of the present day was formerly called mya, from the Greek μύω, to
compress, it is called in English, the gaper, on account of the bivalve
gaping at one end, its hinge having a solid, thick, patulous tooth,
seldom two, and not inserted in the opposite valve ; the same genus was
originally called mytilus ; they inhabit both the ocean and fresh water
; they perforate the sand or mud at the bottom. Many species are caught
for food, and others for the pearls; some few of the same genus
perforate and live in limestone, like the pholadites.
The
pearl-bearing mya, now alasmadonta, is frequently found in the large
rivers of northern latitudes. The British Islands, especially Ireland,
Avere formerly famous for their fisheries, and a few pearls of great
value have at times been obtained from these sources, although the
British specimens are not held in high estimation, with the exception
of a few procured from, the river Shannon, in the year 1821.
The
river Irt, in Cumberland, the Conway, in Wales, and the Tay, in
Scotland, were once noted for their pearl fisheries. Suetonius reports
that Caesar was induced to undertake his British expedition for the
sake of the pearls ; and according to Pliny and Tacitus, he brought
home a buckler made with British pearls, which he dedicated to, and
hung up in the temple of the idol Venus genetrix.
The gapers are mostly used for food, both in Britain
