perhaps remained therein; and the discovery seems at first to have been viewed in such an important light by the States of Sweden, that they rewarded him with a premium of eighteen hundred dollars, a sum equal to about £450, which at that time, and in that country, must have been a very considerable sum. This illustrious naturalist was soon after raised to the rank of nobility, and it is understood to have been in part owing to this discovery. The Swedish government at first made a great secret of it, and established artificial pearl manufactories; but at the end of a few years it was obliged to abandon them, the benefits derived being far from sufficient to cover the expenses. In fact, of the great number of pearls so formed, it was very rare to find any that had that perfect form and lustre which give to the gem its principal value.

All pearls produced by these unnatural methods have this great fault-they cannot be strung; they are only fit for being set. The Chinese, however, ever fertile in plans for not over-honestly making money, seem to have tried a different mode still. They open the live shell carefully, and throw into it five or six minute mother-of-pearl beads strung on a thread; and it is said in the course of one year they are found covered with a crust perfectly resembling real pearl. In these methods of manufacturing pearls, though art was called in, and beautiful specimens were produced, still it was to the animal itself that the lustre was owing; and it required time and patience, often, indeed, several years, before success attended such efforts. A quicker mode was invented by the Italians in the beginning of the sixteenth century. They constructed small hollow beads, and incrusted them internally with a pearl-coloured varnish. A considerable quantity seems to have been manufactured, for at last the government prohibited the sale as being fraudulent.

Towards the end of the same century, we are informed by Humboldt that the Venetians had imitated pearls so exactly, that it materially contributed to injure the pearl-fishery that had by that time existed for a considerable period on the shores of America. The method they adopted is not mentioned, nor does it seem to have continued long; but in Paris a bead manufacturer, about the year 1656, invented a mode of making artificial pearls, which seems to have been exceedingly successful, as it was difficult at first to distinguish them from the best Oriental; and the celebrated Reaumur informs us, that many necklaces were made so beautifully, that the most expert jewellers would have estimated them at immense prices, if they had seen them round the neck of a princess. This M. Jacquin, for so was he called, carried on his business in the Rue du Petit Lion, at Paris, where his heirs continued the manufactory for many years, and perhaps do so still. He was led to this discovery by observ ing that after washing the small fish called the Bleak (Cyprinus alburnus), the water contained a great number of scales of a bright

silvery lustre. These scales he dried and reduced to powder, and this he used as an enamel, with which small beads made of wax, alabaster, or glass, were coated externally. It was soon found out, however, by the ladies, that when necklaces made of these beads were worn in hot weather, the enamel separated from them, and adhered to the skin. A lady then recommended him to use hollow beads, as had been already practised by the Italian manufacturers. By doing so, and making other improvements, he at length succeeded.

The practice was long kept secret, but the celebrated naturalist Reaumur explained the process before the French Academy in 1716; and from him we learn that it is only the silver-like substance found upon the under surface of the scales that is used to produce the pearly lustre. The scales, taken off the fish, are washed and rubbed with several fresh quantities of water, and the several liquors suffered to settle; after which the water is poured off, and the pearly matter, of the consistence of oil, remains at the bottom. This substance is called by the French "Essence d'Orient," or "Essence of Pearl." Beckmann, in his "History of Inventions," thus describes the process:-"Of a peculiar kind of fine glass, of a bluish tint, slender tubes are formed, which are then blown into small hollow globules; and the better to imitate nature, the artist gives to some of these small blemishes like those occasionally seen in real pearls. In order to incrust these, he mixes the essence with melted isinglass, and blows this varnish into each bead with a fine glass pipe, diffusing it equally over the internal surface by immediately placing the bead thus prepared in a vessel suspended over the table at which he works, and which he keeps in constant motion with his foot. To render the beads solid, they are then filled with white wax, and being perforated with a needle, they are threaded in strings for sale; but the holes are first lined with thin paper, to prevent the thread from adhering to the wax. Of the little fish from which this essence is procured, and which are found in abundance in the river Seine at Paris, four thousand will scarcely produce a pound of scales, from which not more than four ounces of pearl essence can be obtained; and as this soon becomes putrid, great inconvenience was often occasioned by the necessity of using it immediately." Reaumur made many attempts to preserve it, but failed. It is now known that it can be kept without injury in volatile alkali. The date of the introduction of these pearls is not exactly known; but that it was practised with success in 1686 is well ascertained, as we learn from an anecdote mentioned in one of the periodicals of the day-"The Mercure Gallant " of that year. A certain French marquis had, it appears, insinuated himself into the good graces of a young lady by the present of a necklace of pearls valued at two thousand livres, but which proved on inspection to be false, and had been purchased for three louis!

PEARL-PRODUCING SHELLS.

There are many kinds of shells which produce pearls; and indeed, from what has been said of their formation, it seems natural to expect to find them in all shells, the interior of which are highly nacred and polished. They are not confined, as has been asserted, to bivalve shells, though they are more frequent in them than in others; and they are generally of the same colour as the inside of the shell which produces them. Our common edible oyster (Ostrea edulis) frequently produces them. In the British Museum there is a specimen of an oyster shell which contains one of very large dimensions, occupying, in fact, nearly one-half the inside of the shell. It is of a dull white colour, irregular in shape, and of an uneven surface, and therefore valueless as an ornament. Our common mussel (Mytilus edulis) is another shell which produces pearls. In the same collection there is a considerable series of large, well-formed pearls taken from this common shell, and they are of a very dark or deep blue colour, resembling the interior of the shell. They frequently occur also in the large swan mussels (Anadonta cygneus and Anatinus) of our fresh-water ponds (see fig.); but the most

esteemed pearls that are found in this country, are taken from the species generally called the Pearl Mussel (Alasmadon margaritiferus), found in large and rapid streams like the Tay. This shell is of a considerable size, and externally of a very rough and black appearance. In the British Museum there are many pearls to be seen taken from this mussel, perfectly round, beautifully white, and apparently of a fine water.

The shell which we have already mentioned as producing the pearls in China, is a large species of fresh-water mussel, of a somewhat wrinkled or corrugated appearance externally, flat,

and of an oval figure, and of a fine, highly-polished surface internally. Another shell, mentioned by Pliny, and found in the Mediterranean and in the Red Sea, produces pearls, but not perhaps to any great extent. This is the pinna or wingshell, which often grows to a large size, and is moored, as it were, to the bottom, by a thick rope of fine silky fibres, called the byssus, or beard, and from which gloves and other similar objects are sometimes manufactured by the curious. The inside of this shell is of a reddish hue, and the pearls found in it are of a fine pink colour. Bruce, in his journey to explore the sources of the Nile, tells us that this shell occurs abundantly in the Red Sea; and that, in all probability, these beautiful pinkcoloured pearls are those we find mentioned in Scripture, and which, in our versions of the Bible, are sometimes erroneously translated rubies. When Solomon, he says, terms them the most precious of all productions, he must be understood to mean chiefly this species of pearl, as having been the most valued in the land of Judea. There are three very fine, large, rosy-coloured pearls, of a beautiful form and colour, to be seen in the British Museum. These used to be considered the produce of the large stromb-shell, so common on our mantel-shelves, and which is of a rich pink colour internally. It is now ascertained, however, that they are formed by the animal inhabiting the Turbinellus, a shell which comes from New Providence. A fine specimen, with a large pink-coloured pearl in its mouth, may now be seen in the magnificent collection alluded to.

The shell, however, which produces the great proportion of the pearls of commerce, and which

is found in both East and West Indies, is what is usually known by the name of the pearl-oyster, or mother-of-pearl shell (Meleagrina margaritifera). This shell is often of a large size, thick, and of an imperfect oval, or almost round figure. It sometimes occurs from eight to ten inches in diameter, though in general they measure about four. The outside of the shell is smooth and variegated in structure, and the inside (see fig.) is even brighter and more

beautiful than the pearl itself. The body of the oyster is white and fleshy, much fatter and more glutinous than the common edible oyster, and so rank, as to be unfit for the table. Dampier, in his Voyage Round the World, tells us of the pearl-oysters of America, that, "when opened, one part is as red as a cherry, the rest white; they are so large, that one stewed is a meal for five

men; the crew ate them for want of better food." And again he describes them " as so large, that one stewed with pepper and vinegar is enough for two men very tolerable food." Almost all writers agree that they are almost unfit for food, except Mr Morier, who says those in the Persian Gulf are considered excellent, and that there is no difference to be perceived in respect of taste between them and the common oyster.

VALUE OF PEARLS.

Pearls seem to have been considered as an article of value from the very earliest periods. Even in the days of Job we find them mentioned as articles of great price; for in the reproof which he administers to his comforting friend Bildad, he says"But where shall wisdom be found? Man knoweth not the

price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. No mention shall be made of coral or of pearls; for the price of wisdom is above rubies." History too teaches us, that from time immemorial the princes and princesses of the East sought this kind of ornament with avidity, and employed them in decorating their garments, and even their instruments. The Romans, at the period of their greatest glory and luxury, esteemed them highly; and Pliny tells us that, in his time, pearls held the very highest rank in everything that was valuable. The Roman ladies used them on all parts of their dress, and over the whole of their bodies; and when they wore them as earrings, had three or four to each ear. Sometimes these were of immense value; hence the moralist Seneca reproves some one by telling him, "that his wife carried all the wealth of his house in her ears." Julius Cæsar presented one of this kind to Servilia, the mother of Marcus Brutus, valued at £48,417, 10s. of our present money; and the celebrated Cleopatra, wishing, it is said, to expend a larger sum in one feast than Mark Antony had done in his most sumptuous repasts, in procuring which he had lavished all the riches of the East, took a large pearl from her ear, and throwing it into a cup of vinegar, swallowed it-the eccentric draught costing about £80,729, 3s. 4d. of our money! It was not uncommon amongst that luxurious people to dissolve pearls and drink them; for Valerius Maximus informs us that Clodius, the son of Esopus the tragedian, swallowed one worth £8072, 18s. 4d.-a goodly sum for the son of a playactor to expend in a single draught. Athenæus tells us that amongst the ancient Persians the value of pearls was their weight in gold; but Tavernier informs us that even as late as his time, immense sums were given for pearls by the natives of the East. One bought by that traveller at Catifa, in Arabia, and now in the possession of the shah of Persia, was valued at £110,000; and one obtained by Philip II. of Spain, in 1587, from the island of Margarita, off the Colombian coast, which weighed 250 carats, was estimated at 150,000 dollars.