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276 Pearls.
and
present so ungraceful a form, as to preclude their use for personal
adornment. This may be accounted for in the following manner. The Pearl
in the course of formation, is twisted into various forms by the
efforts made by the mollusc to unroll itself to get out of its spiral
shell. The fish naturally often changes its position, and the disturbed
Pearl becomes ill-shapen. When a pink Pearl is found perfectly round,
it is most likely due to the mollusc having been less energetic than
most of its species. It is not generally known what difficulty is
experienced in getting the great conch out of its shell, but it is
affirmed upon reliable authority that the shells have to be placed in a
certain hanging position, with a weight attached to the mollusc. Some
time elapses before the fish is drawn out, and often by this means the
Pearl is entirely lost. The conch, although the commonest, is not the
only shell that produces. Pearls of a rosy tint. For instance, a
specimen in the British Museum shews a fine pink Pearl attached to the Turbinella scolymus, a porcel-lanous univalve shell. (See plate.)
It
is not unusual to find specimens of pale pink coral cut and shaped like
pink Pearls, and offered for sale as such ; but an experienced eye will
not fail to detect the absence of the peculiar silky sheen of the
concentric layers of which
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