Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/224

 214 PEARL PEARL RIVER expedition. Pearls vary much in size. Those which are about the size of a pea and of good color and form are most valued, except unu- sually large specimens, which are rare. The most noted was owned by the late Mr. Hope of England. It weighs 3 oz., and is 4 in. in circumference and 2 in. in length, but irregular and imperfect. Among the Romans enormous prices were paid for fine ones. Strings of pearls were valued as high as 1,000,000 sesterces, or about $40,000. The pearls in the ear drops of Cleopatra, which she proposed to dissolve in vinegar at a costly repast, the subject of a wager, were valued at about $400,000. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth Sir Thomas Gresham is said to have imitated this feat with a pearl valued at $75,000. The pearl oyster, from which almost all the pearls of commerce are obtained, is a bivalve of nearly circular form, slightly convex, and sometimes 12 in. in diame- ter. It is met with in different parts of the world, especially in the Indian ocean and the northern Pacific. Like the common oyster, pearl oysters congregate in large numbers on banks, and are obtained year after year from the same localities. Where the water is shal- low, they are sometimes dredged, but they are generally taken by divers. The most noted pearl fisheries are near the coasts of Ceylon, Japan, Java, and Sumatra, and in the Persian gulf. The coasts of Colombia, including the bay of Panama, were long since remarkable for their product of pearls, and they have furnished large amounts of them, but generally of inferior value to the oriental pearls. Still, one possessed by Philip II. of Spain, obtained in 1574 from Mar- garita, weighed 250 carats, and was valued at $150,000. The Spaniards who first visited the American continent found the natives decked with necklaces and bracelets of pearls, and Montezuma is described in his first interview with Cortes as wearing garments adorned with this precious ornament. In the trade in pearls from the Spanish American coast which soon sprung up, the islet of Cubagua became fa- mous for abundant supplies. On the W. coast of Central America pearls are still procured, which are of fine lustre, but of irregular forms. Small vessels from Mazatlan and Acapulco are employed in this business. Besides the crew, they carry Indian divers, called buzos, who receive one fifth of the profits, the remainder being equally divided between the government and the owner of the vessel. Humboldt re- marks with surprise that he had never heard of pearls found in the fresh-water shells of South America, though several species of the unio genus abound in the rivers of Peru. Pearls of large size were found in the streams of New Jersey near Salem in 1858, and one more than an inch in diameter was sold in Paris for more than $2,000. Among the most famous pearl fisheries are those of Ceylon and Coromandel, now controlled by the English government. From the time of Pliny, when the Romans obtained their pearls from the same region, Ceylon has always been cele- brated for its pearls and pearl divers. The divers are natives trained to this pursuit, and accustomed to descend to depths of 6 or 8 fathoms 40 or 50 times a day. They take down a large stone to hasten their descent, and a bag in which they place the oysters, as they tear them off from the rocks. They remain under water from a minute to a minute and a half. The fishing season begins in March or April, and continues about a month. A single shell often contains from 8 to 12, and in some instances it is said even 20 pearls. The usual dimensions of good oriental pearls are from the size of a pea to about three times that size. Those smaller are called ounce pearls from being sold by weight, and the smallest seed pearls. The pearl fisheries of the Bahrein islands in the Persian gulf are said to yield annually from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. Pearls are valued as well for the purity of their lustre as for their size. The smaller ones are worth from 50 cents to $3 each; single fine pearls are worth $5 and upward ; and a handsome neck- lace of pearls as large as peas is worth from $500 to $15,000. Pearls in commerce are classed as oriental and occidental, or Indian and Pacific, and divided into round, pear- shape, and baroque ; when smaller than ^ of an inch in diameter, they are termed seed pearls. Mother of pearl is familiarly known in its applications to ornamental purposes, and thousands of tons of the shells are annually exported from the Indian and Pacific oceans, valued according to quality from $70 to $650- a ton ; it is used principally for buttons, knife handles, inlaying of furniture, &c., and is often beautifully carved. False or artificial pearls were formerly made at Murano, a suburb of Venice, of glass lined with a pearl-colored varnish, or with quicksilver; but the French have been of late years the most successful imitators of the natural pearl. The artificial pearls are lined with wax and fish scales, which are taken from the body of the fish (roach and dace) while living, in order to preserve the glistening hue. A variety of the smelt, said to be peculiar to the Tiber, has long afforded the Roman jewellers the means of coating waxen beads so that they have a greater resemblance to pearls than either the Venetian or French. PEARL, a S. county of Mississippi, separated from Louisiana on the west by the Pearl river ; area, 520 sq. m. ; pop. about 700. It was formed in 1872 from the N. part of Hancock co. and the S. part of Marion co. The surface is undulating and mostly covered with pine forests. The soil is not generally fertile. Capi- tal, Riceville. PEARLASH. See POTASH. PEARL RIVER, a stream rising in Winston co., Mississippi, in the E. central portion of the state. It flows S. W. to Jackson, then S. S. E. to the 31st parallel of latitude, and thence S., forming the boundary between Loui- siana and Mississippi, and emptying into the