CLEOPATRA DISSOLVING THE PEARL.
Captain Johnson was uncertain about it, as he said he had no documentary proof sufficient to convince an ordinary court of law that dissolved pearls were a fashionable beverage in the days of Antony and Cleopatra. "However," he said, "the pearl can be dissolved in strong vinegar; and this fact is sufficient to establish the possibility of the beautiful Queen of Egypt indulging in the freak that is attributed to her.
"Pearls have been known and valued for a great many hundred years. They are mentioned in the Bible, and in the time of Job they were great price. The Greeks and Romans had great numbers of pearls, and some of the wealthy citizens were in the habit of wearing them on their shoes. In all ages they have been associated with wealth, and probably they will continue to be for ages to come.
PEARL-BEARING SHELLS.
"The oyster that produces them is not good to eat; probably he thinks he has quite enough to do to make pearls, without being devoured after he has performed that noble duty. They are found in various parts of the world; but the best pearls have always come from the East: they are valuable in proportion as they possess that peculiar lustre known as 'water,' which it is impossible to describe in words. There are several varieties of the pearl-oyster, but the best of them is of a nearly circular form, and from four to eight inches in diameter. Here is a picture of one of these shells, with a single pearl adhering to it. The outside of the shell is rough, and has a series of ridges that extend from the valve to the edge. The young oysters rarely contain pearls; and the divers understand this so well that, when they find smooth-shelled and small oysters in their baskets, they throw them back into the sea. In the haste of gathering them from the rocky bottom, they have no time to select with care.
"The pearl is nothing more nor less than carbonate of lime, secreted by the oyster, and hardened after a process which he carefully keeps to himself. It was for a long time supposed that the pearl was formed by the attempt of the oyster to cover a grain of sand with a smooth substance, so that it would not be inconvenient to him. It was believed that the sand was rolled in by the action of the waves while the oyster had his mouth open; and, as he could not expel it, he proceeded to cover it up. Many persons adhere to this theory still; but the fact that many pearls have been sawed open and found not to contain the least particle of sand or other impurity, is calculated to throw doubt upon it. The latter belief is, that the pearl is the result of a disease in the oyster, just as a tumor is the result of disease in man.
"In China and Japan the natives have long followed the practice of putting small beads of porcelain inside the oyster, and then returning him to the water, where he is left undisturbed for three or four years. At the end of that time he is taken up and opened, and the beads are found to be coated with the pearly substance. They also have the trick of putting little images or idols into the oyster, and in course of time these become coated over in the manner I have described. You can see some of the results of these processes by looking at the two open shells on the right of the picture."