海底兩萬里 第325期 第23章 珊瑚王國(20)

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Branch Mollusca, Conseil said, class Acephala, order Testacea.

軟體門，康塞爾說，無頭綱，甲殼屬。

Correct, my scholarly Conseil. Now then, those Testacea capable of producing pearls include rainbow abalone, turbo snails, giant clams, and saltwater scallops--briefly, all those that secrete mother-of-pearl, in other words, that blue, azure, violet, or white substance lining the insides of their valves.

不過，我又說，一在體內(nèi)能凝結(jié)成珍珠的最好軟體動物，就是那珍珠貝，乳白珠貝，寶貴的小紋貝。珍珠不過是成為圓形的螺鈾體的凝結(jié)物。它或者粘在珠貝的殼上，或者嵌在動物本身的皺折上。在介殼上的是粘著固定的，在肉上的是活動自由的。不過，珍珠總有一個小小的固體物，或一顆石卵，或一粒沙，作為它的核心，螺鈾質(zhì)在好幾年中間連續(xù)不停地、薄薄一層地環(huán)繞著這核心累積起來。

Are mussels included too? the Canadian asked.

一百五十個鮫魚?尼德·蘭喊。

Yes! The mussels of certain streams in Scotland, Wales,Ireland, Saxony, Bohemia, and France.

我是說鮫魚來著嗎？我急忙喊道，我是要說一百五十個珍珠。說鮫魚那就沒有意義了。

Good! the Canadian replied. From now on we'll pay closer attention to'em.

正是，康塞爾說，先生現(xiàn)在可以讓我們知道用什么方法把珍珠取出來嗎？

But, I went on, for secreting pearls, the ideal mollusk is the pearl oyster Meleagrina margaritifera, that valuable shellfish. Pearls result simply from mother-of-pearl solidifying into a globular shape. Either they stick to the oyster's shell, or they become embedded in the creature's folds. On the valves a pearl sticks fast; on the flesh it lies loose. But its nucleus is always some small, hard object, say a sterile egg or a grain of sand, around which the mother-of-pearl is deposited in thin, concentric layers over several years in succession.

把珍珠取出來有好幾種方法，珍珠粘在殼上的時候，采珠人就時常用鉗子把它突出來。不過，最平常的辦法是把小紋貝攤在海岸邊的草席上面。它們這樣擺在露夭中就死了，十天后，它們到了相當(dāng)腐敗的程度了；于是把它們浸在寬大的海水池沼里面，然后打開它們，洗刷它們。就在這個時候，進行雙重的刮削工作。首先，把商業(yè)中稱為‘真銀白混雜白，和混雜黑，的螺鈾片一類一類分開，分盛在一百二十五公斤到一百五十公斤的箱子里。然后把珍珠貝的腺組織取開，把它煎煮，用篩子篩，把最小的珍珠都取出來。珍珠的價格是看它們的大小嗎？"康塞爾問。