in
Lake Constance; nor was there any evidence of shells, broken or
otherwise, observed by him in the excavations in the lake-dwellings.
The curator of the Rhodesi? Museum, Bulawayo, South Africa, states that
in Rhodesia, in the vicinity of Bulawayo, beads made out of the shell
of the common Unio or fresh-water mussel ( Unto verreauxi) have been observed in the graves, although pearls themselves have never been found with them in any burials.
ADDENDA
One of
the authors used every endeavor in 1893 and 1894 to have a bill passed
by Congress for the regulation of pearl-fishing in the United States.
These efforts were frustrated by the influence of the local
pearl-fishers. An attempt has now been made to preserve the industry in
Illinois, where the legislature has this spring passed a bill for its
regulation. The first section of the bill provides :
It
shall be unlawful for any person or persons to take or catch, by any
means whatever, in any of the navigable waters within the jurisdiction
of this State, any mussel, fresh-water clam or shell-fish from the
first day of October to the first day of April (both dates inclusive)
of each succeeding· year.
The
bill imposes upon any one who violates these provisions a fine of not
less than $25, nor more than $100, or imprisonment in the county jail
for a term not exceeding one year, or else both fine and imprisonment
at the discretion of the court.
Another
section provides that any one not a resident of Illinois, who takes
clams, shell-fish, or mussels, without procuring a license, shall be
subject to a fine of not less than $50, nor more than $100, or to
imprisonment for one year, or to both penalties. The licenses may be
procured on application and payment of $50 for each vessel to be
employed, and they expire on the first day of October following their
issuance. The amount received for these licenses is to be turned over
to the State Treasurer at the end of each month and placed to the
credit of the State Fish Protective Fund. No boat having more than two
bars, each not exceeding sixteen feet in length, shall be used for this
fishery, and the space separating the hooks on these bars is not to be
less than eight inches.
Miss
Carl, the artist who painted the portraits of the Empress and that of
the Dowager Empress of China, states that she wears a diamond ring.
When she shows this she apologizes for wearing it, stating that it had
been given to her by the Viceroy, Li Hung Chang, saying that she,
herself, sees no beauty in the sparkle of the diamond ; for her there
is more beauty in the soft, quiet tones of the pearl than in the
brilliancy of the diamond.
During
the Boxer War in China, the looting was carried on to so great an
extent, that a French hotel-keeper is said to have obtained a basket of
pearls, which he bought for a trifle, and which are said to have netted
him very nearly $1,000,000.
33
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