| Show only unhealthy oysters are producers of pearls oriental poets used to say that pearls grew from dewdrops dew drops swallowed by the oysters actual fact proves that only unhealthy oysters produce pearls essentially those with crumpled shells writes edward samuel in the illustrated weekly of india the growth is the result of grit sand grains or splinters being driven into the mantle or flap of skin in the oyster the foreign substance becomes coated with mother of pearl the pearling industry is a double headed one pearls and shells with shell as the main item and pearls as subsidiary the first shell in australia was gathered by natives at low tide and when this supply was exhausted they waded and dived for it still later they dived from boats in two or three fathoms of water and early profits were enormous forty or fifty feet was the limit for native divers but the shell went much deeper the japs adopted close fitting goggles but over fifty years ago regular diving dress was adopted fully clad in this suit with glass fronted helmet and air pipe down goes the diver on ar ari i rival at the bottom the safe down signal is jerked on the guide rope |
