HISTORY OF PEARLS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL. Pearls are a shelly secretion, of a spherical There are also pearl fisheries in the western shape, formed in a species of oyster, or pearl hemisphere. The coast of Columbia and the mussel, and said to be produced by a malady in Bay of Panama have furnished considerable the animal, which requires nearly seven years quantities, but they are not considered equal to for its full development, after which the oyster the pearls of the East in shape or colour. Dedies. Small pearls, which have been immersed tailed accounts of the pearl fishery of Ceylon in acetous acids, and thus reduced to their mem- have been given by the Count de Noé and branous constituents, have the appearance of others, who have had ample means of watching being formed of concentric coats of membrane the operations of the pearl-divers during a resi and carbonate of lime, thus resembling in com- dence in that island. It appears that the pearl position the mother-of-pearl with which oyster- oysters occur in banks at greater or less depth shells are lined. The precise origin of pearls is in the sea on the western side of the island of unknown, but it appears probable_that_some Ceylon, the average depth, however, being about minute substance, such as a grain of sand, may twelve fathoms, and the distance from the shore have found its way into the shell and produced about fifteen miles. The right to fish on these irritation; and that the animal, unable to expel banks is sold by the government every season, it, renders it less injurious by covering it with and a single auction sale is generally made to calcareous matter. It is sometimes affirmed one individual, who afterwards disposes of shares that, to produce pearls, the oyster must have in the fishery to other parties. The biddings at received some external injury; and this is cor- the auction are regulated by the produce of some roborated by the fact that nearly all the shells thousands of oysters taken from the beds at in which pearls are found are outwardly con-hazard. If the average quality of pearls contorted, and that a smooth regular shell is a tained in them be good, the competition is strong pretty sure sign of the absence of the pearl. It in proportion. was therefore suggested to the Swedish government, by the celebrated Linnæus, to pierce small holes in the shell of the freshly-caught pearl oyster, and then restore it to its original bed. The experiment was tried, but without success. A somewhat similar plan is said to be adopted by the Chinese, and with favourable results. These ingenious people thread upon fine silk small beads of mother-of-pearl, and fasten them within the shells of pearl oysters, when they rise to the surface of the water at the beginning of summer. The animals are then restored to their bed, where they soon cover the beads with calcareous matter, and thus convert them into pearls. In whatever way produced, pearls of considerable size, on account of their beauty and rarity, have been valued at enormous prices in past ages, and are still among the choicest objects of the jeweller's art. Their delicate and silvery lustre has been as widely celebrated as the brilliancy of the diamond. The Hindoos poetically describe them as drops of dew falling into the shells when the fish rise to the surface of the sea in the month of May, and becoming, by some unexplained action of the sun's rays, transformed into pearls. Pearl fisheries exist in Ceylon, on the Coromandel coast, and in the Persian Gulf, the last named being the most productive. Fisheries of less importance also exist in Algiers, and in the Zooloo Islands. Two thousand years ago, the Romans found pearls in Britain, and within modern times the rivers of Scotland have afforded considerable quantities, though not of the best quality. Several rivers of Saxony, Silesia, Bavaria, and Bohemia, afford pearls, and they are also found in two or three Russian provinces. The pearl fishery commences in April, and lasts till towards the end of May. It attracts a concourse of visitors not only from the interior of the island, but from various parts of India, whose diversities of language, dress, and manners produce a striking effect. The sea-shore, at other times solitary, is, on the eve of the fishery, suddenly covered with innumerable huts, composed of a few poles stuck in the ground, interwoven with bamboo, and covered with the leaves of the cocoa-nut palm. These temporary dwellings often shelter as many as 150,000 persons. The signal for commencing the fishery is given at daybreak by the firing of cannon, and at that moment the several boats cast anchor in the fishing-ground, for at midnight they had left the shore in an extensive fleet, so as to be on the spot at the desired moment. Each boat has its own proper bounds, beyond which it is not lawful to work, and government vessels are on the spot to see that no infringement of contract takes place. The boats each carry a captain, a pilot, and twenty men, of whom ten are experienced divers. Five divers descend at once, the other five taking the plunge when the first ascend. Thus a little time is allowed for regaining strength. In order to descend as rapidly as possible through the water, the diver places his feet on a large stone made fast to one end of a rope, the other end being secured to the boat. He also takes another rope, to the end of which is attached a net, or basket, to contain the oysters. The upper extremity of this second rope is held by two men in the boat. The diver is also provided with a strong knife for detaching the oysters, and as a means of defence against sharks, which are very numerous in those seas, but which do not often attack the divers, being perhaps scared by the noise of the assemblage, and the continual plunging of so great a number of persons. The diver no sooner reaches the ground than he gathers oysters with all possible speed into his basket, and then letting go the rope to which the stone is attached, he pulls that which is held by the sailors, and rapidly ascends to the surface. Some divers make very dexterous use of their feet, holding the net with one foot, clasping the stone with the other, and thus leaving one hand free to close the nostrils, while the other hand holds the rope in descending. The time during which the divers can remain submerged is variously stated, and no doubt it differs greatly according to the constitution of the individual. Some observers declare that, in their experience, it never exceeded fifty seconds; but Captain Percival, in his work on Ceylon, gives two minutes as the usual time of remaining under water.* Serious effects are produced by this employment, and the divers may frequently be seen with blood issuing from their mouth and nostrils. Yet this does not hinder them from going down in their turn. They will make from forty to fifty plunges in one day, and bring up on each occasion about one hundred oysters. Their day closes before noon; for, as soon as the sea-breeze sets in, the signal is given for the return of the boats to the shore. Their owners, and a large assemblage of persons of all classes, are eagerly looking out for the arrival of the flotilla, and are soon busily employed in examining and stowing away the cargoes. Each owner has a shallow pit fenced round and secured for his own use, in which his store of oysters is deposited, and left open to the air. This pit, or cout tó, as it is called, is in the midst of a group of huts belonging to the same owner, so that it is under guard of his party. Here the oysters are allowed to putrefy under a burning sun, and a stench arises from them which would seem enough to depopulate the shore of its thousands of inhabitans. Yet such is not the case. The health of the people does not appear to be materially affected, and the oysters are allowed to remain till dry, when they can be easily opened, and the pearls extracted. To open them when fresh would require much greater force, and would be likely to injure the pearls. When the putrefaction is sufficiently advanced, the oysters are taken from the couttó, and placed in troughs made of the trunks of trees. Sea-water is thrown over them: they are easily opened, and render their pearls to the washing and shaking of a number of men who stand all on one side of the trough, while inspectors at each end closely watch their proceedings, and other inspectors examine the shells which are thrown away, lest they should contain some of the precious substance. The workmen engaged in Dr. Faraday found that, by first exhausting the lungs by several deep exhalations, so as to expel the carbonic acid, and then taking a deep inspiration of fresh air, he was able to hold his breath for two minutes and a half. | washing pearls dare not lift their hands to their Besides the number of persons who arrive in Ceylon in the fishing season, for the purpose of speculating in pearls, there are also numerous Indian artisans who are very expert in piercing and drilling pearls, and who practise their trade on the spot on economical terms. A writer thus describes their operations: "A machine made of wood, and of a shape resembling an obtuse inverted cone, about six inches in length and four in breadth, is supported upon three feet, each twelve inches long. In the upper flat surface of this machine holes or pits are formed to receive the larger pearls, the smaller ones being beat in with a little wooden hammer. The drilling instruments are spindles of various sizes, according to that of the pearls; they are turned round in a wooden head by means of a bow handle, to which they are attached. The pearls being placed in the pits which we have already mentioned, and the point of the spindle adjusted to them, the workman presses on the wooden head of the machine with his left hand, while his right is employed in turning round the bow handle. During the process of drilling, he occasionally moistens the pearl by dipping the little finger of his right hand in a cocoa-nut filled with water, which is placed by him for that purpose; this he does with a dexterity and quickness which scarcely impedes the operation, and can only be acquired by much practice. They have also a variety of other instruments both for cutting and drilling the pearls. To clean, round, and polish them to that state in which we see them, a powder, made of the pearls themselves, is employed. These different operations in preparing the pearls occupy a great number of the black men in various parts of the island. In the black town, or pettah of Colombo, in particular, many of them may every day be seen at this work, which is well worth the attention of any European who is not already acquainted with it." MOTHER-OF-PEARL, or NACRE, is the hard, silvery, internal layer of several kinds of shells, especially oysters, the larger varieties of which, in the Indian seas, secrete this coat of sufficient flat upon a wet grindstone, the edge of which is turned with a number of grooves, the ridges of which are less liable to be clogged than the entire surface, and hence grind more quickly. If the stone be wetted with soap and water, it is less liable to be clogged. The pieces are finished on the flat side of the stone, and are then ready for inlaying, engraving, polishing, &c. Cylindrical thickness to render the shell an object of manu- | the circular pieces, such as those for buttons, facture. The genus of shell-fish, Pentadine, with the annular or crown-saw, fixed upon a furnishes the finest pearls as well as mother-of-lathe-mandrel. The pieces are next ground pearl: it is found round the coasts of Ceylon, near Ormus in the Persian Gulf, at Cape Comorin, and in some of the Australian seas. The dealers in pearl-shells consider the Chinese from Manilla to be the best: they are fine, large, and very brilliant, with yellow edges. Fine, large shells of a dead white are supplied by Singapore. Common varieties come from Bombay and Valparaiso, from the latter place with jet-pieces are cut out of the thick part of the shell, black edges. South Sea pearl-shells are common, with white edges. The beautiful darkgreen pearl-shells, called ear-shells or sea-ears, are more concave than the others, and have small holes round the margin: they are the coverings of the Haliotis, which occurs in the Californian, South African, and East Indian seas. In the Indian collection of the Great Exhibition in London, specimens of the finest pearlshells were shown, known in commerce as flatshells, ear-shells, green snail-shells, buffalo-shells, Bombay shells. It is stated that the shores of the Zooloo Islands afford the finest shells. 66 The beautiful tints of mother-of-pearl depend upon its structure; the surface being covered with a multitude of minute grooves, which decompose the reflected light. Sir David Brewster, who was the first to explain these chromatic effects, discovered, on examining the surface of mother-of-pearl with a microscope, a grooved structure, like the delicate texture of the skin at the top of an infant's finger, or like the section of the annual growths of wood as seen upon a dressed plank of fir. These may sometimes be seen by the naked eye; but they are often so minute that 3,000 of them are contained in an inch." It is remarkable that these iridescent hues can be communicated to other surfaces as a seal imparts its impress to wax. The colours may be best seen by taking an impression of the mother-of-pearl in black wax; but "a solution of gum-arabic or of isinglass (white glue), when allowed to indurate upon a surface of motherof-pearl, takes a most perfect impression from it, and exhibits all the communicable colours in the finest manner, when seen either by reflection or transmission. By placing the isinglass be tween two finely-polished surfaces of good specimens of mother-of-pearl, we obtain a film of artificial mother-of-pearl, which, when seen by single lights, such as that of a candle, or by an aperture in the window, will shine with the brightest hues." It is in consequence of this lamellar structure that pearl-shells admit of being split into lamine for the handles of knives, for counters, and for inlaying. Splitting, however, is liable to spoil the shell, and is therefore avoided as much as possible. The different parts of the shell are selected as near as possible to suit the required purposes, and the excess of thickness is got rid of at the grindstone. In preparing the rough pearl-shell, the square and angular pieces are cut out with the ordinary brass-back saw, and near the hinge, and are rounded on the grindstone preparatory to being turned in the lathe. Counters, silk-winders, &c., are smoothed with Trent sand or pumice-stone and water, on a buff-wheel or hand-polisher, and are finished with rotten-stone moistened with sulphuric acid, which develops finely the striated structure of the shell. For inlaid works, the surface is made flat by filing and scraping; then pumice-stone is used, and after this putty powder, both on buff-sticks with water; and the final polish is given with rotten-stone and sulphuric acid, unless tortoise-shell, or some other substance liable to be injuriously affected by the acid, be present in the inlay. In turned works, fine emerypaper, rotten-stone and acid or oil are used, The pearl handles for razors are slightly riveted together in pairs, then scraped, sand-buffed on the wheel with Trent sand and water; thirdly, gloss-buffed on the wheel with rotten-stone and oil, or sometimes with dry chalk rubbed on the same wheel; and fourthly, they are handed up, or polished with dry rotten-stone and the naked hand. ARTIFICIAL PEARLS.-The art of making artificial pearls has been brought to such perfection in Paris, that even jewellers and pawnbrokers have occasionally had a difficulty in deciding between the artificia? and the real. The origin of this successful imitation is given as follows: A French bead-maker named Jaquin, observing that when the small fish called ablette, or bleak (Cyprinus alburnus), was washed, the water was filled with fine silver-coloured particles, collected some of these for the purposes of his trade. He found that the soft shining powder thus obtained had, to a remarkable degree, the lustre of pearls; hence he called it essence of pearl, or essence d'orient. He first made small beads of gypsum, and covered them with this substance. They were greatly admired, and eagerly sought after; but it was found that this pearly coat, when exposed to heat, separated itself from the bead, and attached itself to the skin of the wearer in a manner that was anything but pleasant. The ladies themselves, it is said, suggested to Jaquin the making of hollow glass beads, and covering the inside with essence of pearl. This he did, and established a manufacture, of which some idea may be gained by the following account. Slender tubes of glass are first prepared, called girasols—a term applied to opal, and sometimes to the stone called cat's-eye, and given to these tubes because the glass is of a peculiar bluish tint. From these the artist blows minute globules, to the extent of from two to six thousand per day, not caring to make them all perfectly regular or free from blemish, because the natural pearls are not so. The pearl-essence is then mixed with a solution of isinglass, and is blown while hot into each bead by means of a fine glasspipe. The solution is spread equally over the whole internal surface, by shaking the pearls in a vessel placed over the table where the workman sits, and to which he gives motion by his foot. When the varnish is equally diffused and dry, the beads are filled with white wax; this gives them the necessary weight and solidity, and renders them less fragile. They are then bored with a needle, and threaded on strings for sale. The holes in the finer sort are lined with thin paper, that the thread may not adhere to the wax. To produce one pound of scales, no fewer than 4,000 fishes are required; but this quantity of scales only yields four ounces of pearl essence. The fish are about four inches long; they are sold at a cheap rate in the markets after being deprived of their scales. The value of a pound of washed scales in the Chalonnais is from fifteen to twenty-five livres. The early manufacturers suffered great inconvenience from not knowing how to preserve the scales from putrefaction, and consequently being obliged to use the essence immediately it was obtained, lest it should acquire the intolerable odour of decayed fish. Attempts were made to preserve them in spirits of wine or brandy, but those liquors wholly destroyed their lustre. At length it was discovered that these fishy particles can be kept for a long time in solution of ammonia; and this enables the manufacturers of artificial pearls to carry on a considerable traffic with distant places where the fish is plentiful, the sup ply from the Seine, though abundant, being insufficient for the purposes of the trade of Paris. Down to a late period, the heirs of M. Jaquin continued to manufacture pearls to a considerable extent, in the Rue de Petit Lion, at Paris. An elaborate account of this art is given by De Beost, in a work entitled "L'Art d'imiter les Perles fines," from which most English descriptions of this manufacture have been obtained. In a recent number of the "Journal of the Society of Arts," it was stated that an "oyster, or rather a mussel, of the species known to naturalists as the mya margaritifera, in which the artificial pearls are formed by the Chinese, had recently been sent to England. These pearls are only obtained near Ning-po, and until lately very little was known of the manner in which they were formed; and the account first published by Sir Joseph Banks was generally questioned. The Hermes' steamer, however, on a late visit to that place, was able to obtain several live ones, in which, on being opened, several pearls-as many as eighteen or twenty, were found in the course of formation. The one sent only contains simple pearls adhering to the shell. It appears they are formed by introducing some pieces of wood or baked earth into the animal while alive, which, irritating it, causes it to cover the extraneous substance with a pearly deposit. Little figures made of metal are frequently introduced, and, when covered with the deposit, are valued by the Chinese as charms. These figures generally represent Buddha in the sitting position, in which that image is most frequently portrayed. Several specimens have, it is said, been preserved in spirits, and others slightly opened, so as to show the pearls." EMILY RIVERS'S TWO LOVERS. BY ISABELLA MUNRO. In nearly every provincial city, town, and welcomed the coming day with brighter anticipavillage in England, it has been, for some years tions than the inhabitants of the beautiful village past, the custom to set aside the anniversary of of Stoke Brenton; for a line of railway had our Sovereign's coronation as an annual holiday lately been opened in their neighbourhood, and -a long summer-day to be enjoyed without re- it would give them facilities for enjoyment which proach by those who can claim no other. And they had never possessed before. But many as millions are they, chained to the business-wheel were the bright eyes that watched the sunbeams of life, whom its early sun awakens to the rare glancing over the tree-tops, none hailed them pursuit of pleasure; for there are few, either in with more pleasure than the somewhat dim ones crowded city or secluded hamlet, who have not of old Hugh Masterton, the tenant of a little some scheme-small though it may be to thatched cottage on the outskirts of the village, make them partakers in the general gaiety. But whose humble walls were hidden beneath a rich on the particular 28th of June, of which we have covering of ivy and woodbine, and whose garden, a tale to tell, there was not, among the many glowing with a thousand brilliant hues, was the villages whose modest dwellings and white spires admiration of all, and the pride of its possessor. peeped forth from their sheltering trees, any who It was strange that one whose youth was past, and whose habits were so retired, should thus prize the holiday of the toiler; yet long ere his usual hour, Hugh Masterton was to be seen with quicker step than ordinary pacing his little lawn, ever and anon turning aside to cull the fairest blossoms that met his eye. And a light form flitting about the cottage, arranging the snowy draperies of the windows, filling the old India china jars with fresh flowers, and preparing breakfast, showed that the old man was not alone, but that his orphan niece, Emily Rivers, was likewise early astir. It was indeed a great day with them; for, favoured by the newly-opened railway, the son and cousin, unseen since his departure for L(a large commercial city some seventy miles distant), well nigh two years before, had promised to spend this holiday with them; and, in honour of the occasion, Masterton had invited his old friend Mrs. Willis and her daughter to be his guests for the day. But there was another circumstance that occupied a great share of Hugh Masterton's thoughts. In her childhood, Emily Rivers had been left a penniless orphan to the protection of her mother's brother. But the gentle and beautiful little girl had not long felt the want of nearer relatives, for her uncle soon learned to love her as if she had been his own; and her cousin, some six years her senior, showed for her the greatest affection, which changed not as she grew to womanhood, but lasted even to the day of his departure, and had ever since been evinced by his letters. It had long been the hope of Masterton that the niece who was as dear to him as a daughter might become so in reality; the manner of his son induced him to believe the hope well founded, and he had, although unconsciously, sought to sow the same idea in the mind of his niece, by speaking of all that James would say, or do, or like, on all occasions, and dwelling with satisfaction on every affectionate expression in his letters, and every word that spoke of his future as one with theirs. And, in part, he had succeeded; for her cousin became the dream of Emily's girlhood-the being on whom all her ideas of the good and true were modelled-on whose nobleness of soul she would have staked her own, and for whom, if she felt not all the devoted love of which such a heart as her's was capable, she at least entertained a warm and generous affection. They had also pleasant tidings for the newcomer, though they had been withheld with the desire of making the anticipated meeting more joyous. Emily Rivers was no longer penniless, sharing her uncle's straitened income, but the possessor of five thousand pounds, left by her father's brother, who had gone to India before her birth, and been long since believed dead. Mr. Masterton had received the news with mixed feelings: he rejoiced at the good fortune of his niece, though he knew not what influence it would have on the happiness of his son; but through none of the bright and beautiful visions which had surrounded her youth in that ivy-clad cottage had the yellow glow of gold ever pene trated, and she would no more have thought of valuing herself more highly for her newlyacquired fortune, or of prizing James less because he possessed it not, than she would of doubting his noble qualities or generous heart. At length the time came for the arrival of the train, and Emily, in her simple muslin dress and blue ribbons, took her place at the garden-gate beside her uncle, to watch for the expected passenger, who must first pass through the village. Half-an-hour-an hour-they waited, but no one came; they saw people hurrying through the street towards the station, and they became alarmed, and old Hugh Masterton had laid his trembling hand upon the gate to go and see if that day of anticipated pleasure was to prove one of sorrow to them, when the postman delivered to him a letter. It was from James, and great as would have been the disappointment an hour since to receive it, instead of himself, their fears had been so much excited that the sigh which burst from uncle and niece was now one of relief. As they had at once anticipated, James could not come. His employer was ill, and, as he was a chemist, the business could not be left without either him or his brother-assistant; but, though it was his turn to have a holiday, yet the other's father was dying, and for his own gratification he could not think of preventing another's performing a sacred duty; therefore they must not expect him, but enjoy themselves their best without him. And to Emily he sent a dozen kind wishes that she might pass a pleasant day, and the information that, though tied to the tiresome shop, he should be with them in spirit. "Well, it is a great disappointment, certainly," observed Mr. Masterton, as he folded up the letter; "hut it would not have been like our James to have acted otherwise." "Had he acted the unworthy part of preventing his friend obeying such a call, I am sure it is not in James's nature to have enjoyed himself," said Emily, warmly; yet tears of disappointment stood in her soft dark eyes. "I had hoped to see him wandering with you beneath the green trees to-day, Emily," resumed her uncle; "but as it cannot be, we must just take James's very good advice, and enjoy ourselves as best we can; and I hope, my dear girl, that, after all, it may be a pleasant day to you." Emily replied but by a somewhat forced smile: she had no more anticipations of pleasure, and would far rather have doffed her simple galadress, and settled quietly down to her usual occupations; but her duty to her expected guests forbade it; and already they were at the door, congratulating their hosts and themselves on the beautiful weather for their intended excursion. "You will have to do without your expected escort, young ladies," said Mr. Masterton; and he told his son's unexpected detention. "You should have told him we were going to Elmsley Park," said Annie Willis, laughing, "and depend upon it he would have found a way to come." "If James could not come to see his father, |
