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EUROPEAN PEARL FISHERIES 169
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homes.
These pearls have attracted attention up to the present time ; and
while they do not compare with those of the seas, either in quality or
in aggregate value, yet they are prized on account of their intrinsic
\vorth as well as because they are a product of the fatherland. In the
densely populated valleys, the rivers are so polluted by refuse and
sewage that the mollusks have been greatly depleted ; but in the
streams of clear, cool water, draining the mountain regions of France,
Germany, Austria, and also in the rivers of Norway, Sweden, Russia,
etc., the fisheries are not unimportant.
The
most celebrated of the pearl fisheries in France are those of the
Vologne, a small river in the extreme eastern part of the country, in
the department of Vosges. Its sources are in Lake Longmere in the
Vosges mountains on the Alsace frontier, and it flows into the Moselle
at Jarmenil, between Remiremont and Épinal. While the pearl-mussel
occurs to some extent in nearly the whole length of this river, and,
indeed, is to be met with in the wild brooks and forest streams of
nearly all the mountainous parts of France, it is most abundant in the
vicinity of Bruyères, where the Vologne receives the waters of the
Neuré. These resources were described in 1845 by Ernest Puton,1 and in 1869 by D. A. Godron;2 to whom—and especially to Godron—we are indebted for much of our information.
The
fisheries of the Vologne have been celebrated for nearly four
centuries. Writing in 1530, Volcyr stated: "In the river Vologne
between Arche and Bruyères, near the ancient castle of Perle,
beautiful pearls are found. In the opinion of jewelers and artists they
closely resemble the oriental." 3 A few years later Francis
Reues wrote : "There is near the Vosges mountains in Lorraine a river
fertile in pearls, yet they are not very brilliant. The strange thing
is that the quality which they lack by nature is supplied by the aid of
pigeons, which swallow them and restore them purer than before." 4
Ina publication of 1609, this little river is represented in the
frontispiece by the figure of a nymph bearing many pearls, while
beneath is the emblem : Vologna margaritifera suas margaritas ostentat.5
In
his paper above noted, Godron recites several orders issued from 1616
to 1619 by the Duke of Lorraine, who then had jurisdiction over the
present department of Vosges, showing that a high value was
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