ARTIFICIAL PEARLS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXXII, Issue 60, 8 May 1924, Page 8

ARTIFICIAL PEARLS

A PANAMA INDUSTRY.

Colon, 31 arch 1

Specially constructed diving sails and a knowledge ot the Oriental, method oi making pearl oyster beds 1 work iul! tune is stimulating ihe ' pearl industry of Panama, Pearls * from the Isthmus have been famous ever since Balboa first crossed it, but the art of changing pearl-making from ; an accidental u> an artificial basis, and of putting the oyster grounds on an intensive production schedule is an innovation for these waters. A pearl is bom under water. Ho results from the secretion of mother of pearl the same nacreous solution, that lines the interior of u n oyster's shell, over sonic particle that lias found its way into the mollusk. Formerly the particle wa s introduced accidentally. Now in Panama, more and more, pearl fanners M'e introduce ing the pearl-forming particle themselves and taking a baud in nature's work. The- most successful method of exploiting the Panama pearl' beds, it is being found, is with divers furnished with the latest apparatus for submarine exploration. There seems s"m e probabil (, v that Ibis method will grow more and more popular here. Artificial pearl propagation of the Pana i;a b.'d.s has sprung out of this d 'vclopniont, though ,'t is biown that the Chinese have known for centuries the secret of intensive pearl production. The pearl grower caivf'ully introduces the foroi-.j, sul-.stance- into the lining of the pearl oy.ter or mussel. The mollusk is then returned to the water, until such time a. H is reckoned that the grain of sand has been transformed into a valuable gem. The Pearl Islands in the <«ulf of Panama, about oO ni'les from Jhilboa, are the chief sources of the Panaun pearl trade. The price of the gems has increased since 1880. This has stimulated the trade til) now the beds arc exploited () i the "Pearl Coast" (mm Mexico as far south as Guayaquil. Paris i s the world's ""J!r| market, to which nearly all Panama pearls are b-'ng shipped. There rre lucky f uu ] s ;„ t | le trade. In 1909 a div-r off the south coast of Chin'qui. Panama, brought up a remarkable p?ar| the size of n partridge egg. weighing 42 carats. It was greenish black at the base, becoming lighter as th-> e'Kl tap-red, where if was ;, light-steel colour If brought £]oof) in p>r:'s.