Although there is scientific basis for the belief that it may be possible in time to bring about pearl growth in this manner, the public should not be too hasty in financing companies soliciting capital for establishing so-called “pearl farms.” Every once in a while announcement is made in the public press of wonderful success which has been attained by some investigator, who surrounds his discovery with as much mystery as enveloped the Keeley motor, and who is as anxious to sell stock as was the owner of that mythical invention. A prospectus of one of these “pearl syndicates,” which is now before us, claims to “increase and hasten pearl production by forcing the oyster, through doctoring the water in which it is immersed and also by irritating the mollusk itself.” So far as the writers are aware, aside from the inexpensive but somewhat attractive culture pearls, no commercial success has yet followed the many attempts at artificial production. This chapter should not close without reference to the so-called “breeding pearls,” probably the most curious of all theories of pearl growth, regarding which many inquiries have been made. Throughout the Malay Archipelago there exists a generally accepted belief that if several selected pearls of good size are sealed in a box with a few grains of rice for nourishment they will increase in number as well as in size. If examined at the expiration of one year, small pearls may be found strewn about the bottom of the box, according to the theory; and in some instances the original pearls themselves will be found to have increased in size. If again inclosed for a further period of a year or more, the adherents of the theory say, the seed-pearls will further increase in size, and additional seed-pearls will form. Furthermore, the grains of rice will present the appearance of having been nibbled or as though a rodent had taken a bite in the end of each. It is claimed that the breeding pearls are obtained from several species of mollusks, mostly from the Margaritifera, but also from the Tridacna (giant clam) and the Placuna (window shell). While cotton is the usual medium in which the pearls and rice are retained, some collectors substitute fresh water and yet others prefer salt water. It seems that rice is considered essential to success. The earliest account we have seen of this extraordinary belief was given by Dr. Engelbert Kæmpfer,[338] who was connected with the Dutch embassy to Japan from 1690 to 1696, and since that time it has been referred to by many travelers in the Malay Archipelago. A correspondent in the time-honored “Notes and Queries,” 20th September, 1862, writes: