Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo18amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Slu'lls of iiiusst>ls artificially reared and two of the four buttons wliicli have been cut from the shells. — The manufacture of pearl buttons from mussel shells began in 1891 and the rapid increase in the business soon threatened the destruction of the mussels. Tlie United States Government in consequence entered upon a series of investigations as to the practicability of propagating mussels artificially. This is a commercial problem, yet success depends upon a knovi'ledge of the life history of the mussel, which has been gained by various investigators in theoretical work. The life history is unusual: after the young mussel deve'lojis from the egg to a larval form called "glochidium," barely visible to the naked "human eye, it is discharged into the water where it develops further or dies, depending on whether it has an opportunitv to attach itself to some fish. If chance favors it, it takes up the life of a parasite until far enough developed to leave the fish, drop to the bottom of the stream, and enter upon the life of the adult mussel. The task, therefore, of artificially breeding mussels, involves the bringing together of suitable fish and the young, almost microscopic, glochidia. Investigations have shown that a moderate sized fish mav successfuUv carrv from one thousand to two thousand of these parasitic guests

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