What are pearls obtained from? How are pearls formed? Pearls and high technology

Pearls are the only precious stone that is of animal origin: it is not formed in the bowels of the earth, like diamonds or emeralds, but in the shells of bivalve mollusks.

Where do pearls come from inside shells? In Ancient Greece they believed that these were the hardened tears of mermaids. In the Middle Ages, they believed that angels hid the tears of orphans and innocents in shells, and there they turned into pearls.

The inner layer of the shell, produced by the mantle of the mollusk, is nacre (German). perl– pearls, mutter– mother; Perlmutter- “mother of pearls”). If you find a bivalve shell on a river or seashore, examine its inside. You will see that it is covered with a layer that has a beautiful shine. This is mother of pearl.

Thus, in the center of the pearl there is always a “crystallization center”, the germ of the pearl. But it also happens that there is no foreign object in the center of the pearl. In this case, the seed for the formation of a pearl can be a gas bubble, a drop of liquid, or a piece of mollusk tissue - during the process of pearl formation, it gradually decomposes.

The shape of a growing pearl depends mainly on where its embryo ends up. If the pearl sac is located near the surface of the shell, then the nacreous layer of the pearl merges with the nacre of the shell and forms an irregular pearl - a blister. The blister does not have a pearlescent layer at the attachment point. If the bag ends up in the mantle of the mollusk, then a pearl of the correct shape grows. Pearls that form in the muscles or in parts adjacent to them have an irregular, often very bizarre shape.

The group of mollusks that are capable of forming pearls is called pearl mussels.

Pearl mussels come in freshwater and marine varieties.

Freshwater, or river, pearls are the most versatile. It has long been used to decorate both the outfits of peasant women and the dresses of noble ladies. River pearls are thousands of times cheaper than sea pearls, since they are obtained easier and faster; In addition, freshwater pearl mussels are larger than sea pearl mussels and are capable of simultaneously growing up to 20 pearls. Freshwater pearls are smaller than sea pearls, have a less regular shape and are less shiny. But river pearls are stronger than sea pearls and more resistant to abrasion. Freshwater pearls account for the largest share of pearl production in the world.

The highest quality pearls are produced by marine mollusks of the genera Pinktada and Pteria. They usually form dense settlements - banks, which are located at a depth of 10-15 m.

At first, people obtained pearls by diving for pearl shells. The pearl diving industry dates back more than 4 thousand years. It is very difficult and dangerous, because the diver must dive to great depths (usually up to 20 m) without any auxiliary devices, armed only with a knife, remain there for a sufficient time (usually one to one and a half minutes) to collect as many shells as possible and make up to 30 -40 dives per day! In addition, sharks await the diver in the sea.

Having figured out how pearls are formed, people learned to grow pearls artificially. This technology was invented by the Japanese researcher Kokichi Mikemoto in the 90s of the 19th century. He also created the first pearl growing company. Pearls are grown like this: by opening the shell flaps, foreign bodies, for example, a tiny bead or bead made of natural mother-of-pearl, are introduced under the mantle of the pearl oyster. Then the shell is placed in a special reservoir, in which ideal conditions are created for the mollusks to live. It takes 3 years to grow one good sea pearl, and up to 2 years for a river pearl.

Pearls grown in this way are called cultured pearls. Almost all pearls used in jewelry (90%) are cultured. In terms of its properties, it is no different from natural pearls, and is several times cheaper, despite the fact that not all cultured pearls meet quality standards - there are a lot of defects in this matter.

The main suppliers of cultured pearls are China and Japan, with Australia and Polynesia to a lesser extent.

What are pearls and where do they come from? Everyone knows this.
Everyone also knows about Japanese ama divers, who dive to deep enough depths to bring up shellfish with the coveted pearls inside.
And many believe that real pearls are obtained only in this way, at the cost of superhuman efforts of people with huge lungs.
In fact, the bulk of pearls in the world are obtained in a completely different way.
To do this, you don’t need to dive many tens of meters and lift hundreds of mollusks from there, among which, perhaps, you will find a couple of shells with a pearl between the valves.
In many countries, pearls are grown like potatoes in special fields...

2. I’ll start my story with a short educational program. So, pearls are formed inside the shells of mollusks after a grain of sand enters there and the subsequent gradual deposition of nacre on it, resulting in the formation of a solid nacre ball, which is valued as precious stones and is used to make jewelry. Why does a pearl form when a grain of sand hits it? A grain of sand inside the mollusk causes constant irritation in the latter and causes it to secrete nacre, which concentrically envelops the irritating object. The longer a grain of sand is in the body of a mollusk, the larger the pearl ball will be inside it.
In the classical way, pearls have been mined since ancient times - divers with baskets dive to the bottom of rocky bays and open areas of the sea and lift hundreds of mollusks from there, which are then opened in search of mother-of-pearl balls. It is absolutely clear that pearls are not found in all shells and many shellfish are simply thrown back into the sea. Truly, titanic efforts for the sake of some pearl balls.
In 1896, without exaggeration, a revolution took place in the pearl market, which made it possible to extract it on... an industrial scale!
And so, from the beginning of the 20th century, such huge fields began to appear in various countries of Southeast Asia that have access to the sea.

3. These are fields where shellfish are grown.
Now divers no longer need to look for new accumulations of mollusks in the open sea, dive to great depths and shovel a huge number of shells in search of the treasured pearl.
Today, mollusks are grown in these beds, where they live on special nets suspended on floating buoys.
All you need to do to get shells is swim up to the buoy in a boat and pull the net with shellfish on board

3. Shellfish fields are located near or around these floating farms.
It is here that the staff who service the fields live, open shells to remove pearls and raise young animals for their subsequent resettlement in pearl “beds.”
And one more operation is performed here, without which all these fields would be completely useless..

4. The farm consists of empty plastic containers that act as floats, on which decks are located, service premises and sleeping houses are located.

5. There is a kindergarten right in the middle of the farm.
Here, shellfish are grown before they are planted in a common field.
A kind of pearl seedling

6. Baskets with floats in which juveniles grow

7. A wide variety of shellfish are used to grow pearls.
Over the same period of time, in some only a tiny pea of ​​pearl is formed, in others - a huge large pearl ball.
In addition, depending on the type of mollusk, pearls can be of different shades - yellow, green, black and even blue pearls. Blue pearls are very rare and have a very high value.

8. When it’s time to harvest the “harvest” in the pearl beds in the main field, workers lift the nets with shells and bring them to the farm for opening.

9. Here workers separate the mollusks from the net and clean them of additional debris and fouling that has adhered over many months.

10. Cleaned shells are collected in baskets, which will later be opened under the close attention of security and surveillance cameras. After all, tens and hundreds of dollars are hidden in every sink

11. But you probably already have a question - why is it guaranteed that there is a pearl in every shell?
In fact, all the processes described above are just technical steps that are obvious and no different from the steps that ama divers perform.
The main thing they do on this farm is to introduce that very grain of sand into the gonad of a living mollusk!
This was precisely the revolutionary discovery of Kokichi Mikimoto in 1896, which made it possible to cultivate pearls on an industrial scale.

12. This guy in the photo spends 12 hours a day carefully dissecting juveniles from a kindergarten and implanting an irritant into a living mollusk, around which a ball of mother-of-pearl will form, that is, a pearl will grow.

13. Both grains of sand, by analogy with the natural process, and rather large pearl balls, which are made right there from the remains of mollusk shells, are introduced into the gonad.

14. This is truly a piece of jewelry, because... the mollusk should remain alive after the operation.

15. The valves are carefully moved apart on a special slipway so as not to damage the muscle that holds the shell valves

16. Then, using tweezers, a ball is placed into the gonad or mantle.
After this, the shell will be placed inside mesh bags and taken to the pearl field.

17. And after a few months or years, the workers will take the shellfish out of the sea and in each of them they will find a pearl like this...
These pearls are not artificial, because all the processes in them occur in exactly the same way as when a grain of sand naturally enters the mollusk.
Of course, cultured pearls are much cheaper than what Ama divers still produce. But even cultured pearls vary in price, ranging from $300 to $30,000 (per strand) depending on the diameter, surface quality and quality of color matching of the pearls within the same necklace.
By the way, it is interesting that pearls have a lifespan. And it is not that big - no more than 200 years (with the exception of cases when there is no air access to the pearl). The oldest pearl whose history can be traced is the Peregrina, which belonged to Elizabeth Taylor.

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Instructions

Experienced divers descend to a depth of 10-12 meters up to fifty times a day, holding their breath for about three minutes. Try to time yourself and not breathe as long as you can, now compare your results with the results of the pearl divers! It is not surprising if these results vary greatly, since mainly residents of coastal villages have been engaged in this fishery from an early age.

Do not think that this improves health - after a few years of such work, avid divers begin to experience problems with vision and hearing, and by the age of thirty they look like old people withered by adversity.
And nowadays, on the coast of Japan, there is a whole world of villages that consist of divers and divers. These divers and pearl divers are called Ama.
They are Akoya pearls or sea pearls. It is also mined in China and Vietnam; such pearls grow in oysters living in sea water, and they are valued six times more expensive than their freshwater counterpart of the same size. The color of Akoya pearls is very diverse - it is white, cream, pink, silver, and even greenish-black. The usual diameter of the best pearls is from 5 to 9 millimeters; pearls larger than this size are very rare and are very expensive.

Imagine how poetic the image of a young naked maiden with slanted eyes diving into clear water, pink from the rising sun! Ama traditionally dive naked or topless, wearing only a rope belt with a shell-removing tool.
They bring the divers to the diving site, attach a rope passed through a block, and a belt with lead weights for weighting.

Upon reaching the bottom, it releases ballast, which is pulled out by its assistants. Now she needs to immediately begin collecting shells before the air in her lungs runs out. When Ama feels that her further stay under water is impossible, she pulls the rope and quickly pulls the beautiful diver with a load of shells out of the depths.

And in the depths of the ocean washing the shores of Australia, Indonesia and the Hawaiian Islands, in its warm bays, larger oysters live than in the seas where Ama dives. These oysters contain oceanic pearls, which are valued somewhat more than sea pearls. The environment of ocean bays is changeable and fickle, so the percentage of defects in such pearls is higher. Its size is larger than the sea - 9-14 mm.

Pearl fishers from Polynesia dive to a fantastic depth of 35-40 meters every day throughout the shell collection season. Their secret is in the amazing symbiosis and union with the ocean, which is concluded with the little islander. Polynesian pearl divers are typically tall, muscular men with broad chests and can dive for up to six hours. Unfortunately, we will never repeat these magical dives into the mysterious world of the ocean without special devices!
The so-called Tahiti pearls are mined here. The color of these pearls varies from light gray to almost black, diameter is 11-12 mm. Each Tahiti pearl is unique - the black-lipped mollusks in which they grow rarely produce pearls of a perfectly regular shape, so jewelers have to carefully sort through many seemingly identical pearls in order to assemble a necklace.

Pearls are a gift from the sea, symbolizing fidelity, truth, love. It is an organic material valuable throughout the world.

Legends and stories

People have been thinking about how pearls are formed since ancient times. One of the most beautiful legends says that these are the tears of a beautiful nymph mourning love and family. They say that it so happened that a magnificent maiden descended from the sky, lured by the ocean, and then met a young fisherman of incredible beauty. Descending from heaven time after time, she observed the hardworking young man and finally, plucking up the courage, spoke to him. The nymph learned that the young man fished every day to cure his mother.

The beautiful maiden took pity on the poor man and made sure that the spoils increased day by day. Time passed, the mother began to recover, and the young man invited the girl to become his wife. The nymph who fell in love with the fisherman gave her consent, and they lived happily. Over time, the couple even had a son. But the gods found out about the earthly well-being of the heavenly inhabitant and punished her by locking her in a tower. How are pearls formed? The maiden's tears flow into the ocean inhabited by shellfish and become magnificent beads in their shells.

Value since ancient times

It is not known whether pearls first became popular and only then the legend was invented, or whether the opposite happened, but in ancient Greece and Rome, necklaces made from sea treasures were highly valued. Knowing from legend how pearls are formed, people considered them a symbol of marital happiness and fidelity.

Time passed, and the popularity of pearls only grew. In the Middle Ages, it was customary to embroider a bride’s wedding dress with seafood. To show their love for a girl, young people gave rings decorated with pearls. This was considered the most reliable symbol of lifelong love and even an oath of fidelity.

Fame all over the world

There are as many legends about how pearls are formed as there are peoples living on the planet. In all areas where mining of this value has been known since ancient times, there are their own legends about the origin of a magnificent treasure in an unsightly shell.

For a long time, the beauty of the sea gift has been glorified in the poetry of all nations. “Pearl” in many languages ​​is consonant with the words “radiant”, “unique”. It is traditional to compare female beauty with the charm of a sea treasure.

Want to learn more about pearls in literature? Pay attention to the poetic works:

• Japanese;
• Chinese;
• Persian;
• Byzantine;
• Roman.

What will science say?

If you turn to scientists with the question: “How are pearls formed?”, you can find out that this happens during the synthesis of a specific calcium carbonate, popularly known as nacre. In addition, one bead also contains conchiolin, which plays the role of a horny substance.

If there is some foreign object in the shell of a mollusk, pearls will appear over time. How is treasure formed? The mollusk senses that a foreign body has appeared in its “house”. It could be:

• grain of sand;
• larva;
• shell fragment.

The body tries to remove this element from the living space, in the process of which the body is enveloped in mother-of-pearl. A biochemical reaction occurs in the body, and a jewel is formed.

Who, how, which?

It is already known for certain that hundreds of species of marine and fresh water inhabitants can form pearls. The key condition is the presence of a sink. But the beads are not the same: both shape and color are different. The classic version is a slightly “powdered” grayish tint. Besides this, the sea gives pearls to humanity:

• pink;
• blue;
• gold;
• black;
• bronze;
• greenish.

Since pearls are formed in a shell under the influence of environmental features, it is the chemical composition of the waters in which the mollusk lived that determines the color of the treasure. In addition, the type of shellfish has an effect, since different species have different salt compositions in the body.

Since ancient times, the most valuable pearls have been mined from the waters of the Persian Gulf, providing people with creamy white and pink pearls.

Valuable sea treasures come from waters near:

• Madagascar;
• South America;
• Philippines;
• Myanmar;
• Pacific islands and archipelagos.

Is it only natural?

One of the largest producers of this seafood gift today is Japan. Surprisingly, there are few deposits in this country, but local residents have invented several methods for artificially cultivating pearls.

Special conditions are created that are as close to natural as possible. In this case, processes characteristic of wild nature are imitated. Since pearls are produced naturally under such conditions, they are highly valued.

Specifications

They talk about how pearls are formed in a shell, photos taken on the seabed and special cultivation enterprises.

The resulting beads have the following characteristics:

• hardness - 2.5-4.5 Mohs;
• density - 2.7 g/cm3.

No special surface treatment is required.

A pearl lives for one and a half to three centuries. The specific duration depends on the origin. Organic matter loses moisture over decades, causing the decoration to fade, flake, and decomposition processes begin.

In order for pearls to live longer, they need care:

• cannot be stored in a damp, dry place;
• direct sunlight is not allowed;
• when tarnished, wash with salt water;
• at the first signs of destruction, use ether and potassium carbonate.

Modern myths

Despite the fact that people have long known how pearls are formed in nature, to this day there are some beliefs associated with this process. They are strongest on those islands that live off pearl divers.

In Borneo, people believe that the ninth pearl has a unique property - it produces others like itself. Therefore, local residents take small containers in which they put pearls, mixing them with rice - two grains for each sea gift, and then wait until there are more treasures.

Pearls and high technology

Since people figured out how pearls are formed in shellfish, factories were built to cultivate the sea treasure. It is cultured beads that are most often found today.

Cultivation was invented in 1896, and the process was immediately patented. The author of the idea is Japanese Kohiki Mikimoto. To make the pearl larger, the inventor came up with the idea of ​​placing a bead in the shell of the mollusk, which he removed a few years later as a mature, beautiful, large pearl.

Having studied how natural pearls are formed, several options for making artificial analogues were invented. However, in their beauty they are incomparable with seafood. As a rule, this is a glass base, decorated or covered with a thin layer of mother-of-pearl. To understand what is in front of you, perform an experiment: throw an object onto a stone plane. Natural pearls bounce high and look like a ball, but artificial pearls do not.

Another method for separating fake pearls from natural ones: run the product over your teeth. If the surface feels rough, it is a natural material. But industrial imitation will be absolutely smooth to the touch.

There is only one precious mineral in the world that does not need to be processed. These are natural pearls. How a pearl is formed is described above. It was the peculiarities of this process that determined such beauty, smoothness, and suitability for wearing the sea gift immediately after its extraction.

As archaeologists say, pearls were the first precious material that interested people because of their beauty.

The use of pearls was invented by the Chinese 42 centuries ago. Treasures mined in China were used:

• as decorations;
• as money;
• to indicate social status.

Pearls were no less valued in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Semiramis and Cleopatra decorated themselves with treasures taken from the sea waves. Legend has it that an Egyptian beauty once, having argued with Mark Antony, dissolved a pearl in wine and drank the drink.

Another important historical milestone is associated with pearl fishing as follows. When Alexander the Great was planning to conquer India, his advisers recommended that he start with Socotra, famous at that time for the extraction of sea jewelry. The great warrior was amazed by the beauty of the pearls, especially the magnificent combination of black, white and pink colors. Since then, he began collecting strings of pearls, which soon attracted other noble and wealthy people. This passion for collecting precious stones continues unabated to this day.

Pearls and rulers

A variety of natural pearls are valued. How is such a rich variety of jewelry formed from just one type of raw material (photos taken from under water allow us to see this)? The secret is that nature gives people different shapes of beads. There is an international classification that distinguishes:

• buttons;
• ovals;
• pear-shaped;
• spherical;
• round;
• semicircular;
• teardrop-shaped;
• irregularly shaped pearls.

Since seafood has always been highly valued, they were traditionally used to decorate the outfits of royalty. For example, at the baptism of Louis XIII she was dressed in a dress decorated with 30,000 pearls.

But Europeans first saw black pearls only in the 15th century. This happened thanks to Hernando Cortez. Centuries later, the origin of this species was discovered off the coast of North America, in the Gulf of California. Largely due to this, the city of La Paz flourished, and to this day is considered the international center of black pearls.

But the English Queen Elizabeth I valued primarily pearls from China. She decorated herself with several threads at once, and in total up to a thousand precious beads could be seen on the ruler’s neck alone.

The Spanish ruler Philip II owned a pearl called "Perigrina". It is known to connoisseurs in our time. Jewelry passes from hand to hand. It was owned by:

• Napoleon III;
• Mary Tudor;
• Elizabeth Taylor.

It was through the efforts of the latter that “Peregrine” became the central element of a luxurious piece of jewelry created by Cartier jewelers.

Famous pearls

The specificity of the origin of pearls is such that the fusion of several beads into one occurs extremely rarely. If fishermen catch such a sea treasure, it creates a sensation among connoisseurs. One of the legendary pearls, consisting of several at once, was called the “Great Southern Cross”. It consists of nine elements.

Another famous name is "Princess of Palawan". It was formed in the mollusk Tridacnus. The weight of the sea treasure is 2.3 kg. The diameter of the bead exceeds 15 cm. This sea gift was put up for auction as part of the Bonhams auction in Los Angeles, organized by the Museum of Natural History.

But the most expensive pearl is “Regent”. She looks like an egg and was Bonaparte. The story tells that the pearl was purchased as a gift for Maria Louise, who would later become the emperor's wife. The deal was completed in 1811. Then the sea treasure came to Faberge and was kept in the St. Petersburg collection. At an auction in 2005, the magnificent jewel went for $2.5 million to its new owner.

The largest treasure mined on our planet from the depths of the sea was called the “Pearl of Allah.” Place of origin: Philippines. Weight - 6.35 kg, and diameter 23.8 cm. Value - 32,000 carats. The pearl is included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Tahitian pearls

Of all the types of cultured pearls, the Tahitian black pearl was the last to be created. For its production, the mollusks Pinctada margaritifera are grown. Today, the black treasures produced by these organisms are the only known natural species. Any other beads are dyed.

The peculiarity of Tahitian pearls is their rapid growth. On the other hand, only a small percentage of marine life is capable of creating a pearl. Each piece of jewelry is unique and different from others. Largely for this reason, jewelry made from black Tahitian pearls is valued, because the process of working with it is painstaking and requires a lot of skills, effort and time. Jewelers select the right pearls for the job from hundreds and thousands of beads created by the molluscs.

However, finding the pearl yourself is very satisfying. This pearl can be a souvenir for a long memory...
If anyone thinks that pearls are mined only in the equatorial seas, then this person is very mistaken. Until the mid-19th century, Russia was the main supplier of pearls on the world market.

Surprised? Maybe I'll start in order.
Pearls come in two types: sea and river. In fact, pearls are a rather ordinary and very common phenomenon. Only rare forms, rare colors and rare sizes are valuable. Everything else isn't worth a penny. However, finding the pearl yourself is very satisfying. This pearl can be a souvenir for a long memory or a good gift for a loved one.

Pearls usually form in the mantle of bivalves. Everyone probably remembers how this happens. A grain of sand that gets into the mantle (in the folds of the body) of a mollusk irritates its flesh and is therefore covered with a layer of mother-of-pearl, smoothing out sharp corners. Every year the layer of mother-of-pearl becomes thicker and eventually a tiny grain of sand turns into a pearl. The larger this pearl is in size and the closer to a perfectly round shape, the more expensive it is. Usually the color of a pearl is white-pearl, but there are exceptions and the color of a pearl can be black, pink, blue, greenish, etc. Pearls with unusual colors are much more expensive than ordinary ones of the same size and shape.

Bivalves are quite widely found in marine and fresh water bodies around the globe. So finding a pearl is not a problem. One problem is that in order for a pearl to be of a good size, it needs to mature in the shell for decades, and many river mollusks do not live that long, although they themselves are of impressive size and, therefore, there are no large pearls in these mollusks. Bivalve mollusks are long-lived, in which large pearls can mature, regardless of the habitat (river, sea) and are called pearl mussels.

For reference, pearls can form in any mollusk that has at least some kind of shell, and even very rarely, it appears on the scales of fish. These animals can also be long-lived and such pearls can be of enormous size. As an example, pearls from Tridactna shells live up to 500 years or more can be up to several kilograms in weight. Such pearls are more valuable as a curiosity and are not usually used for jewelry. Pearls in pearl oysters are usually of irregular shape, often attached to the shell itself, despite their size and color, and are also not suitable for jewelry. There are also artificial pearls, which are as valuable as artificial black caviar or soy (artificial) meat. We won't talk about these fakes.

So, where to look? Pearl mussel shells are quite often found in clean northern and Siberian rivers and lakes, where fish such as grayling, taimen, trout and other salmon are found. These are quite large shells, often found about the size of an adult man’s hand. These shells stand vertically at the bottom in whole colonies. A mask is enough to collect as many of these shells as you want in warm water (in summer). In the 19th century in the Arkhangelsk province there was a custom to give a beloved bride-girl a handful of pearls on a necklace. There were no masks for scuba diving then, and pearl mussels were taken from rafts with a stick with a split end. And they looked into the water through a special pipe made of birch bark. Pearls were also mined for sale around the world in the same way.

Clothes decorated or embroidered with pearls were quite popular at one time, especially in Rus' among fashionistas of the boyar and princely tribes. Although kokoshniks with pearls and beads were also carried by simple peasant peasant women. Predatory fishing of pearl mussels eventually undermined the population of these mollusks, and pearl fishing in those days first ceased and was then forgotten. Almost two hundred years have passed and so far no one except the Chinese has resumed pearl mining. By the way, Chinese pearls are purely freshwater. I personally found up to 17 pearls of this irregular shape and relatively large size in one shell. This doesn't happen often, but it's not very rare either. Usually the pearl oyster itself containing pearls has an ugly shell, and a smooth and beautiful shell, accordingly, turns out to be without pearls.

For those who are particularly interested and do not want to travel to the northern and especially Siberian rivers, I can offer an alternative. Lovers of mussels and oysters can find small pearls in shells from the store. Such pearls are not suitable for beads due to their size, but they are useful for decorating bracelets or as an insert into a ring. You can also find pearls in scallops, but not in canned scallops.

It is better, of course, to look for pearls in the seas where the tides ebb and flow. During low tide, you can wander along the exposed bottom and collect mussel shells and oysters in the remaining puddles. Along with Kamchatka crabs and other delicacies. So to speak, combining pleasant things with tasty and healthy things. For example, in the Far Eastern seas at low tide, hermit crabs, sea cones and Kamchatka crabs can be found in the same puddles and rock crevices. Not very large in size, with a shell usually no larger than a tea saucer. And armed with a net or a stick with a dinner fork tied to it, you can catch shrimp, flounder, small halibut and, if you’re lucky, octopus in these puddles.

You can cook all this delicious food right there on the shore, on the fire.