At the Paris Exposition of 1855, Her Majesty the Queen exhibited some magnificent pearls; and on the same occasion the Emperor of the French exhibited a collection of 408 pearls, each weighing over nine pennyweights, all of perfect form and of the finest water. The Romans were passionately fond of pearls, and they have transmitted their taste to the Eastern nations, who attach notions of great grandeur and wealth to the possessor of large and brilliant pearls.
The genus Pinna, so called by Linnæus, from one of the species which was so designated from the resemblance of its byssus to the aigrette or plumelet which the Roman soldiers attached to the helmet. French naturalists name them jambonneau, from their singular resemblance to a dried ham (Figs. 166 and 167), their brown, smoky colour not a little aiding the resemblance. This shell is fibrous, horny, very thin and fragile, compressed, regular, and equivalve, triangularly pointed in front, round or truncated behind. The hinge is linear, straight, and without teeth; the ligament, in great part internal, occupies more than half the anterior half of the dorsal edge of the shell, forming a straight elongated fossette.
Fig. 166. Pinna rudis (Linnæus).
Fig. 167. Pinna nigrina (Lamarck).
The animal is thick, elongated, with mantle open behind, presenting a conical furrowed foot, hearing a considerable byssus.
The Pinnæ are found in almost every sea, and at various depths; they are constantly attached by their byssus, and in a vertical position, the larger side of their shell being uppermost. They assemble on sandy bottoms in considerable numbers. The byssus has in all ages fixed the attention of the Mediterranean fishermen upon these curious shells. With its tuft of fine silky hairs, six or seven inches in length, of a fine reddish-brown hue, articles of luxury are formed, which are often mentioned by the Latin writers. The threads of the byssus, which are remarkable for their unalterable colour, were formed by both Greeks and Romans into a fabric to which there is nothing analogous in the world. The Maltese and Neapolitans still fashion soft tissues from it, but the stuffs so manufactured are pure objects of curiosity.
Fig. 168. Pinna bullata (Swainson).