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Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls

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Pearls.
extracts the oxygen from water, either salt or fresh, we are, however, still untaught. The water is admitted between the " mantle lobes " into the " palliai chambers," where it is oxygenated : the oyster evidently retains a considerable quantity of gas within itself, many shells being discovered by the divers, simply by the betraying bubbles of gas emitted by the oyster, in the act of closing its shell. The effete water is renewed by diffusion, as there is no regular pulsating movement to eject it.
In most fishes there is a special arrangement to guard against the admission of foreign substances to the respiratory organs, the branchial arches being developed into a kind of fringe. In the invertebrates however, there is no special apparatus for that pur­pose, and when, after storms or other disturbing causes, the water becomes thickly charged with sand, mud, and other substances in suspension, it is evident that the water admitted within the palliai chamber of the oyster must be equally thick, and it can hardly be doubted but that some particles of this suspended matter are accidentally retained entangled in the tissues of the oyster, especially if the latter happen to be weakened by disease.
The healthier the appearance of the oyster, and the greater the amount of water emitted when
Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls Page of 341 Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls
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