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Ch. 5: Mother-of-Pearl Shells

Ch. 5: Mother-of-Pearl Shells Page of 341 Ch. 5: Mother-of-Pearl Shells Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
Mother-of-Pearl Shell.                        87
due to the presence of any material pigment or colouring matter, as might at first sight be supposed, but is referable to the action of light on its deli­cate structure. Like most other shells, the Mother-of-Pearl consists of carbonate of lime, with a little anjmal matter serving as a connective tissue or frame-work. In Dr. Watts' Dictionary of Cliemistry, the Mother-of-Pearl is said to consist of 66 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 2.5 of organic matter, and 31.5 of water. The chemical composition, however, offers no explanation of the cause of the exquisite pearly lustre, and science is indebted to the late Sir David Brewster for the discovery of the real cause of this phenomenon. He was the first to point out that the iridescence of Mother-of-Pearl does not reside in the shell, nor depend on the chemical nAture of its substance, but is due to the delicate striations of its surface.
As far back as 1814, Brewster published the result of his researches on the structure of Mother-of-Pearl, in a letter addressed to Sir Joseph Banks, and presented to the Royal Society. His views on this subject were also set forth in his well-known "Treatise on Optics," contributed in 1831 to Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia.
The late Sir John Herschel also applied himself to the optical study of Mother-of-Pearl, and his
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