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Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls

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Their origin and formation.                119
South Kensington, and in the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn-street, there are specimens which clearly illustrate the processes of re-lining the shell, and of burying foreign substances. They are flat shells (the lower valves), with a number of figures of Buddha lying embedded at equal distances apart, on the upper portion of the shell near the lips, but not so deeply buried as to be hidden. These are not uncommonly produced artificially in China, in order to make a profit out of the unquestioning religious faith of the people who, upon seeing the apparently supernatural work of a senseless mollusc, would lift their hands in awe, and utter an ex­clamation which would be an equivalent of the Moslem "Allah is great!" The little figures are slipped carefully below the mantle of the oyster, and the process of deposition described before covers them with nacre. The whole subject of the artificial • production of such pearly bodies will be discussed in a subsequent chapter.
If this system of burying Pearls be understood, the art of " peeling Pearls " in order to get rid of the incomplete layers of shell, or to deprive the Pearl of one of its own delicate layers, in the hope of finding the subjacent layer more perfect, may readily be understood. Both Chinamen and Sooloo men resort to it frequently, and become great
Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls Page of 341 Ch. 6: Origin and Formation of Pearls
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