Home » categories » rare book library » Streeter: Pearls and Pearling Life
This chapter is tagged (labeled) with: 

Ch. 4: Pearl-bearers, Marine and Fresh-water

Ch. 4: Pearl-bearers, Marine and Fresh-water Page of 341 Ch. 4: Pearl-bearers, Marine and Fresh-water Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
76
Pearls.
exceeding in size the palm of a man's hand, and though it exhibits the most brilliant nacre, and pro­duces fine small Pearls, its shell has but little market value as mother-of-pearl, being worth only from 20s, to 30s. per ton. On the other hand, the Me-leagrina margaritifera is considerably larger and thicker, and yields the most valuable mother-of-pearl, as well as the finest Pearls, although these are not numerous. Indeed so pronounced are the differences between the two species in this respect, that the former might, with propriety, be called the " Pearl," and the latter the " Shell " oyster.
The number of Pearl-producing molluscs, how­ever, is by no means confined to the Aviculida: they are on the contrary members of a very large group, which frequently differ from each other in almost every other possible respect : indeed their general configuration is as varied, as their distribu­tion is widespread ; some delighting in a tropical heat, deep seas and coral reefs, and others in the cool water of more northern latitudes and tem­perate zones. It is with the Pearl oyster of the Eastern Seas however that we are at present more immediately concerned.
All true Pearl-bearers have one feature in common, namely, the close resemblance existing
Ch. 4: Pearl-bearers, Marine and Fresh-water Page of 341 Ch. 4: Pearl-bearers, Marine and Fresh-water
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
Other Books on this topic
bullet Tag
This Page