350
_
THE SEAS
exchange, the shells varying in value according to their
size, and other shells have been similarly used in various
regions.
_
At the present day certain shells are of considerable
commercial value as the source of the mother-of—pearl
used for the manufacture of such articles as buttons, studs,
knife handles, brooches, fans and all manner of inlaid
work.
The shells principally employed are thoSe of the
large pearl oyster, Marg'aritifera, and the large Trochus
(a tropical variety of the common top shells of our
shores).
There are important sheries for the former in
-
the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea—where the shells were
articially cultured on a large scale until the slump after the
wafrendered this unprotable—the Great Barrier Reef of
Australia and the Torres Straits between Queensland and
New Guinea, Thursday Island being the headquarters of
this shery, and also the Pearl Islands in the Bay of Panama
and various other regions-in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The thick mother-of-pèa which lines the inner surface of '
_
the shell (formed as we have just seen, of the same substance
as
pearls) isqcut out (Plate 123) by machinery and then
worked up into the desired shapes.
Among the many shells used for decorative purp‘œes we
may perhaps mention one”, known in the Channel Islands
as the
Orm‘er and on the
of North America
as the Abalone, the scientic name being Haliotis (Plate 12 I')
This is really a large, very attened limpet with a shell
'
,perforated by a- curVed row of openings.
When cleaned
and polished it is a very beautiful object and is frequently
used in shops as a shade_ for electric lights.
The
incidentally, is edible 'and highly prized in many parts,
especially in the. United States Where the canning of the
-
‘
esh forms a considerable industry.
_,
,.
_
THE SEAS
exchange, the shells varying in value according to their
size, and other shells have been similarly used in various
regions.
_
At the present day certain shells are of considerable
commercial value as the source of the mother-of—pearl
used for the manufacture of such articles as buttons, studs,
knife handles, brooches, fans and all manner of inlaid
work.
The shells principally employed are thoSe of the
large pearl oyster, Marg'aritifera, and the large Trochus
(a tropical variety of the common top shells of our
shores).
There are important sheries for the former in
-
the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea—where the shells were
articially cultured on a large scale until the slump after the
wafrendered this unprotable—the Great Barrier Reef of
Australia and the Torres Straits between Queensland and
New Guinea, Thursday Island being the headquarters of
this shery, and also the Pearl Islands in the Bay of Panama
and various other regions-in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The thick mother-of-pèa which lines the inner surface of '
_
the shell (formed as we have just seen, of the same substance
as
pearls) isqcut out (Plate 123) by machinery and then
worked up into the desired shapes.
Among the many shells used for decorative purp‘œes we
may perhaps mention one”, known in the Channel Islands
as the
Orm‘er and on the
of North America
as the Abalone, the scientic name being Haliotis (Plate 12 I')
This is really a large, very attened limpet with a shell
'
,perforated by a- curVed row of openings.
When cleaned
and polished it is a very beautiful object and is frequently
used in shops as a shade_ for electric lights.
The
incidentally, is edible 'and highly prized in many parts,
especially in the. United States Where the canning of the
-
‘
esh forms a considerable industry.
_,
,.