| Show manufacturing PEARLS oysters in calne water for the purpose the cultivation of the pearl oyster has for years been carried on with great success in the bay of ago in japan under direction and restriction of g supervision the process of nature is however too slow for modern requirements A frenchman lias been boring holes in the shells of pearl oysters and introducing therein small glass beads and stopping up the holes with cork in six months he has pure surface pearls with a glass foundation the nacre of the pearl mollusk varies according to its location and almost any color of pearl as white black pink or gray can readily be produced by lodging alie nucleus on the appropriate part of the mollusks body the chinese are wonderfully expert in the manufacture of pearls they introduce small balls of earth inside the pearl mussel by very delicately opening the shell and placing the nuclei under the mouth of the animal and allowing the shell to close this initial process occurs in alay or june the mussels are then deposited in canals or pools and in november the mollusks are opened the pearls removed holes bored therein the extracted the hollow pearl filled with melted resin and the orifice skillfully filled with mother of pearl these chinese pearls are flat on the bottom and are nearly hemispherical in shape pearls can be made of almost any shade or color by chemical means the black pearl for instance is indelibly colored in a bath of nitrate of silver pearls being partly of animal substance are subject to deterioration and decay and none ortho famous pearls of today to day can be traced back many generations |
