Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Pearly nautilus

PEARLY NAUTILUS, the Nautilus pompilius; common in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, especially toward the Moluccas. It is believed to inhabit both deep and shallow water. Its fine mother-of-pearl is much in request with cabinet makers and jewelers. The smallest and most excavated partitions are used to make pendants for the ear. By removing the external layer of the shell which is not nacreous, drinking vessels of great brilliancy are made in the East, as they formerly were also in Europe.