Passing over the family _Malleidæ_, or Hammer Oysters, we come to the _Meleagrinidæ_, or Pearl Oysters, of which Fig. 1, Plate VIII, is an example, this is the _M. Margaritifera_ of naturalists, the mollusk in whose shells pearls are chiefly found. Here are two long words; _Meleagris_ is the Latin for a Guinea or Turkey Hen, to the markings of whose plumage naturalists might have imagined the shells of this genus bore some resemblance. There was, says the mythology, a celebrated hero of antiquity named Meleaga, but we can hardly suppose that there is any association between his name and that of a genus of Oysters, of which edible we read the ancients were very fond, and they are said to have had a fancy not only for the mollusk itself, but also for the pearls found in its shell, which at their luxurious banquets they dissolved in wine, to make the draughts richer, or at all events more expensive; and this brings us to the specific name of the Pearl Oyster, _Margaritifera_, which comes from the Latin _Margarita_—a pearl; the French use this word slightly altered in the spelling, thus _Marguerite_ for both a daisy, and A PEARL. This jewel, so highly valued for its chaste beauty, is but a secretion of animal matter, resulting from the efforts of some uneasy mollusk, annoyed by a foreign substance, which has found its way into his habitation, to make the best of an unavoidable evil by enclosing it in a soft smooth covering. Let us imitate the Oyster, and when annoyed or afflicted, by meekness and patience, and christian charity, strive to turn our vexations and troubles into “pearls of great price,” and “goodly pearls,” like those mentioned in scripture.