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Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls

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Their origin and formation.              117
dissolution, and the nucleus of the Pearl, if of inorganic matter, after having been the cause of infinite annoyance to its unfortunate captor, is returned to the place from whence it came. In Fig. 4, p. 95, we have a representation of the oyster shell after the Pearl has been passed through the substance.
It may be urged that the layers of shell enve­loping the Pearl or blister, are laid equally upon the top of it and at the sides ; and that an un­natural excrescence would still remain on the inner surface of the shell long after the original cause of it has passed away ; but this is not so. It must be remembered that the laws of development by which creatures are adapted to cope with the surrounding conditions and difficulties of their existence, are as applicable to an oyster as to any other form of life, and the same power that taught the oyster to pro­tect itself against the inveterate attacks of its enemy, the " borer," by increasing the thickness of its shell at the point of danger, might also teach it to rid itself of an uncomfortable tenant in its bed, by exactly the reverse process.
Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls Page of 341 Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls
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