animal.
The yield is small, a thousand shells in many cases yielding only a
very small number of seed-pearls or perhaps none at all. Most of them
are oval, commonly somewhat elongated. The usual size is about one
grain in weight, but some of them weigh over twenty, and a very few
exceed fifty grains each. These pearls are generally of a deep pink
color, shading toward whitish pink at each end. While this is the usual
color, yellow, white, red, and even brown conch pearls are occasionally
obtained ; these are not so highly prized as the pink ones. Conch
pearls present a peculiar wavy appearance and a sheen somewhat like
watered silk, a result of the reflections produced by the fibrous
stellated structure. While many are beautifully lustrous, they are
commonly deficient in orient, and the color is somewhat evanescent.
Most
of the Bahama conch fishermen sell their catch of pearls at Nassau.
According to the late Mr. Frederick E. Stearns, there are in Nassau
four dealers who have an arrangement with Paris and London houses, to
whom they can ship pearls in any number and draw against them with a
bill of lading. In addition to these, there are a dozen dealers in
Nassau who buy what pearls they can secure and offer them for sale.
The
value of conch pearls is as variable as their form, color, and size,
and they are sold by the fishermen at prices ranging from twenty-five
cents to one dollar or more each. Those weighing from three to ten
grains, and of good color and luster, but not quite regular in form,
sell for about $10 per grain; those of exceptional perfection in color
and form, and of about the same weights, sell for from $15 to $30 per
grain. In other and exceptional cases, where the size is very large,
the form perfect, and the color and luster choice, the value is
enhanced to several hundred and even several thousand dollars each. A
perfect conch pearl is among the most rare and most valuable of gems.
An unusually choice one has sold in New York City for more than $5000.
The yield fluctuates considerably, but perhaps averages about $85,0x50
in value annually. One of the finest conch pearls ever found is shown
on the plate with the conch shell.
There
are two important materials that have occasionally been sold and
mistaken for the conch pearl. First, the pale Italian, Japanese, or
West Indian coral, with a color very closely approaching that of the
pearl. By means of a lens it can readily be seen that the coral is in
layers, and does not possess the concentric structure of the pearl, or
the peculiar interwoven structure, with its characteristic sheen, so
frequent in conch pearls. Secondly, the pink conch shell in which the
pearl itself is found; this is frequently cut to imitate the pearl and
sold as such in the West Indies and elsewhere. This can also be
detected by the fact that the layers are almost horizontal and the
struc-
