CHAP. 57.—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH PEARLS — THEIR NATURE.
It is quite clear that the interior of the pearl is solid, as no
fall is able to break it. Pearls are not always found in the
middle of the body of the animal, but sometimes in one place,
and sometimes another. Indeed, I have seen some which lay
at the edge of the shell, just as though in the very act of
coming forth, and in some fishes as many as four or five.
Up to the present time, very few have been found which exceeded half an ounce in weight, by more than one scruple. It
is a well-ascertained fact, that in Britannia[1] pearls are found,
though small, and of a bad colour; for the deified Julius Cæsar[2]
wished it to be distinctly understood,[3] that the breast-plate
which he dedicated to Venus Genetrix, in her temple, was
made of British pearls.
1. Cuvier observes, that most of the rivers and lakes of the north of
Europe possess the mya margarifera: the pearls of which, though much
inferior to those of the East, are sufficiently esteemed to be made an article
of commerce. Pad pearls, of a dead marble colour, are also very frequently
found in the mussels taken off our coasts. Pearls have in modern times
declined very considerably in value; those of about the size of a large pea
can be purchased, of very fine quality, for about a guinea each, while those
of the size of a pepper-corn sell at about eighteen-pence. Seed pearls, of
the size of small shot, are of very little value. Tavernier speaks of a remarkable pearl, that was found at Catifia, in Arabia, the fishery probably
alluded to by Pliny, in C. 54, and which he bought for the sum of £110,000,
some accounts say £10,000, of our money. It is pear-shaped, the elenchus
of the ancients, regular, and without blemish. The diameter is .63 of an
inch, at the largest part, and the length from two to three inches. It is
said to be in the possession of the Shah of Persia.
2. Tacitus, in his Agricola, says that pearls of a tawny and livid colour
are thrown up on the shores of Britain, and there collected. Suetonius
absolutely says, c. 4, that Julius Cæsar invaded Britain in the hope of
obtaining pearls, in the weight and size of which he took considerable
interest.
3. By the inscription placed beneath the thorax, or breast-plate.