Does not the Pearl Oyster produce a substance called Mother-of-Pearl?
No; the beautiful substance so much used for inlaying boxes, and for ornamental knife-handles, &c., is produced from the shell, not of the pearl oyster, but of another sea-fish of the oyster kind.
What is Inlaying?
The art of ornamenting a plain surface of wood, or other material, with thin slices or leaves of a finer wood, of a different kind; as mahogany inlaid with ebony, &c., or with ivory, and other substances. There are two kinds of inlaying; one, of the more ordinary sort, which consists only of compartments of different kinds of wood, inlaid with one another; the other, requiring greater skill, represents flowers, birds, and other figures. The thin plates of wood or other substance, being sawed into slips, and cut into the required forms, are carefully joined, and afterwards strongly glued down on the block of wood, &c., intended to be thus ornamented.
Compartment, a division, a separate part.
What is Ebony?
A hard, black-colored wood, growing in the countries of the Levant, &c.; there are, however, several black woods of different kinds which are also called ebony.
What is Ivory?
The tooth or tusk of the Elephant, which grows on each side of his trunk; it is somewhat like a horn in shape. Ivory is much esteemed for its beautiful white color, polish, and fine grain when wrought. It has been used from the remotest ages of antiquity; in the Scriptures we read of Solomon's ivory throne, and also of "vessels of ivory," and "beds of ivory:" by which it appears to have been a chief article of luxury, as well as of trade.
Remotest, most distant.