Introductory report on the natural history of the pearl oyster of Ceylon.

  • Edward Frederick Kelaart
Date:
[1857]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introductory report on the natural history of the pearl oyster of Ceylon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ordered out large glass aquaria and other apparatus, wliicli will be of service hereafter, to niyself, or to those who may be engaged years hence, in reporting to Government, from time to time, the natural condition of the Oysters in their various banks. In the mean time, I have made use of large glass globes and Ceylon manufactured aquaria, made of thick crown glass, roman cement and slate, purchased from the Naral Stores. Large chatties too, and tubs, are also in use. The Oysters thrive best in chatties, but these do not afford the same opportunity of seeing their habits as glass sided aquaria. I havB also, in addition to the above named means of observa- tion, had perforated wooden boxes, with a few Oysters in each, deposited in various depths of the sea; and latterly, I have used large canoes (ballams) for the same purpose;—lastly, though perhaps of most importance, I have had unexpected facilities of observation among the several small beds of Oys- ters, found in the inner Harbour of Ti'incomalie, They are found of all ages and sizes, at various depths, and different kinds of banks; so that no Naturalist has perhaps ever had the same opportunities of observing the habits of the Pearly Mollusc, as I have at present. 3. I cannot do better, than correct at the outset, some popular errors regarding the anatomy of the Pearl Oyster; and this I may perhaps do most simply, by describing, in a popular form, the external and internal structure of the species of Mollusc producing the best Pearls of Ceylon. 4. The Mollusc, generally known as the Pearl Oyster, found in the Banks of Arripo, Chilaw, Trincomalie Harbour, and other parts of the Island, docs not belong to the same genus as the edible Oyster of Europe, although, in its inter- nal structure, it has a resemblance to it. The Pearl ]\Iollusc resembles more the Mussel tribe than the Oyster; more par- ticularly, as it has, like the Mussel, a byssus or cable, by which it attaches itself to foreign substances, or to others of