The
Pearl ornaments were made from thin laminae of shell, from
one-hundredth to one-fortieth part of an inch in thickness. The
ornament was painted on the Pearl with varnish or 'stopping-out'
material; acid was then applied, and the portions of Pearl not
protected eaten away. By this method the most delicate ornaments were
produced."
It
should be remarked that for the manufacture of papier-mâché, and for
buttons ami various trivial ornaments, much use is made of certain
iridescent shells, distinct from Mother-of-Pearl, yet often confounded
therewith : these are principally the brilliantly prismatic shells of
the Haiiotis, sometimes termed, from their shape, "
ear-shells," and from their iridescent colours "aurora-shells;"
together with certain species of Turbo, such as T. margaritaceus, known also as " Maara shell."
A
few years ago, when " Smoked Pearl," derived from the black-edged
shells, came into use in this country for the manufacture of the large
dark buttons, then so fashionable, it was remembered that about thirty
or forty years previously, some dark shells had been imported, but
being then regarded as almost useless, were buried in piles in
Birmingham. Attention was now naturally directed to their exhumation.
" An anecdote was recently told me," said
