Chaps. 54-59.

Chap. 54.—Pearls; How They Are Produced, and Where.

The first rank then, and the very highest position among all valuables, belongs to the pearl. It is the Indian Ocean that principally sends them to us: and thus have they, amid those monsters so frightful and so huge which we have already described, [In c. 2 of the present Book.] to cross so many seas, and to traverse such lengthened tracts of land, scorched by the ardent rays of a burning sun: and then, too, by the Indians themselves they have to be sought in certain islands, and those but very few in number. The most productive of pearls is the island of Taprobane, and that of Stoïdis, as already mentioned [In B. vi. cc. 24 and 28.] in the description of the world; Perimula, [See B. vi. c. 3. Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, says to the same effect, but calls it “Perimuda, a city of India.”] also, a promontory of India. But those are most highly valued which are found in the vicinity of Arabia, [Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. x. c. 13. It has been already remarked, in the sixth Book, that the ancients looked upon the Persian Gulf as forming part of the Erythræan or Red Sea.] in the Persian Gulf, which forms a part of the Red Sea.

The origin [The pearl itself, Cuvier says, is nothing else but an extravasation, so to say, of the juices, whose duty it is to line the interior of the shell, to thicken and so amplify it; and consequently, it is produced by a malady. It is possible, he says, for them to be found in all shell-fish; but they have no beauty in them, unless the interior of the shell, the nacre, or, as we call it, the mother of pearl, is lustrous and beautiful itself. Hence it is, that the finest of them come from the east, and are furnished by the kind of bivalve, called by Linnæus, “Mytilus margaritiferus,” which has the most beautiful mother of pearl in the interior that is known. The parts of the Indian sea which are mentioned by Pliny, are those in which the pearl oyster is still found in the greatest abundance.] and production of the shell-fish is not very different from that of the shell of the oyster. When the genial season of the year [All this theory, as Cuvier says, is totally imaginary.] exercises its influence on the animal, it is said that, yawning, as it were, it opens its shell, and so receives a kind of dew, by means of which it becomes impregnated; and that at length it gives birth, after many struggles, to the burden of its shell, in the shape of pearls, which vary according to the quality of the dew. If this has been in a perfectly pure state when it flowed into the shell, then the pearl produced is white and brilliant, but if it was turbid, then the pearl is of a clouded colour also; if the sky should happen to have been lowering when it was generated, the pearl will be of a pallid colour; from all which it is quite evident that the quality of the pearl depends much more upon a calm state of the heavens than of the sea, and hence it is that it contracts a cloudy hue, or a limpid appearance, according to the degree of serenity of the sky in the morning.

If, again, the fish is satiated in a reasonable time, then the pearl produced increases rapidly in size. If it should happen to lighten at the time, the animal shuts its shell, and the pearl is diminished in size in proportion to the fast that the animal has to endure: but if, in addition to this, it should thunder [Isidorus of Charax, in his description of Parthia, commended by Athenæus, B. iii., says, on the other hand, that the fish are aided in bringing forth, by rain and thunder.] as well, then it becomes alarmed, and closing the shell in an instant, produces what is known as a physema, [From the Greek φυσήμα, “air-bubble.”] or pearl-bubble, filled with air, and bearing a resemblance to a pearl, but in appearance only, as it is quite empty, and devoid of body; these bubbles are formed by the abortion of the shell-fish. Those which are produced in a perfectly healthy state consist of numerous layers, so that they may be looked upon, not inappropriately, as similar in conformation to the callosities on the body of an animal; and they should therefore be cleaned by experienced hands. It is wonderful, however, that they should be influenced thus pleasurably by the state of the heavens, seeing that by the action of the sun the pearls are turned of a red colour, and lose all their whiteness, just like the human body. Hence it is that those which keep their whiteness the best are the pelagiæ, or main-sea pearls, which lie at too great a depth to be reached by the sun’s rays; and yet these even turn yellow with age, grow dull and wrinkled, and it is only in their youth that they possess that brilliancy which is so highly esteemed in them. When old, too, the coat grows thick, and they adhere to the shell, [It sometimes happens, Cuvier says, that the secretion which forms the mother-of-pearl makes tubercles in the interior of the shell, which are the pearls adhering to the shell here spoken of.] from which they can only be separated with the assistance of a file. [Persius alludes to this in Sat. ii. l. 66. “Hæc baccam conchæ rasisse;” “to file the pearl away from its shell.”] Those pearls which have one surface flat and the other spherical, opposite to the plane side, are for that reason called tympania, [From this passage we learn that the “tympana,” or hand-drums of the ancients, were often of a semiglobular shape, like the kettle-drums of the present day.] or tambour-pearls. I have seen pearls still adhering to the shell; for which reason the shells were used as boxes for unguents. In addition to these facts, we may remark that the pearl is soft [Cuvier remarks that this is not the fact: the concretions are perfectly hard before the animal leaves the water.] in the water, but that it grows hard the instant it is taken out.

Chap. 55.—How Pearls Are Found.

The fish, as soon as ever it perceives the hand, [Isidorus of Charax, as quoted by Athenæus, B. iii.; and Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. x. c. 20, make similar statements. Rondelet, in his treatise on Testaceous Fishes, B. i., complains of Pliny using the word “videt,” “sees,” in the present passage; but, as Hardouin says, he only uses it in a free sense, meaning, “is aware of the approach of,” or “has a perception of.”] shuts its shell and covers up its treasures, being well aware that it is for them that it is sought; and if it happens to catch the hand, [Isidorus of Charax, in Athenæus, B. iii., tells a similar story; but modifies it by saying that the fish sometimes cuts off the fingers of the divers, and not the hands.] it cuts it off with the sharp edge of the shell. And no punishment is there that could be more justly inflicted. There are other penalties added as well, seeing that the greater part of these pearls are only to be found among rocks and crags, while on the other hand, those which lie out in the main sea are generally accompanied by sea-dogs. [“Canes marini.” He calls by this name the same animal that a little further on he describes by the name of “canicula,” “dog-fish;” alluding, probably, under that name to various species of the shark. Procopius, in his book, De Bell. Pers. B. i. c. 4, has a wonderful story in relation to this subject. He says, that the sea-dogs are wonderful admirers of the pearl-fish, and follow them out to sea; that when the sea-dogs are pressed by hunger, they go in quest of prey, and then return to the shell-fish and gaze upon it. A certain fisherman, having watched for the moment when the shell-fish was deprived of the protection of its attendant sea-dog, which was seeking its prey, seized the shell-fish, and made for the shore. The sea-dog, however, was soon aware of the theft, and making straight for the fisherman, seized him. Finding himself thus caught, he made a last effort, and threw the pearl-fish on shore, immediately on which he was torn to pieces by its protector.] And yet, for all this, the women will not banish these gems from their ears! Some writers say, [Such, for instance, as Megasthenes, quoted by Arrian in his Indica, and Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8.] that these animals live in communities, just like swarms of bees, each of them being governed by one remarkable for its size and its venerable old age; [Hardouin suggests that a preferable reading to “vetuslate,” would be “venustate,” by its beauty; and indeed, Ælian, in the corresponding passage, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, says, that the chief is remarkable “for its size, and the extreme beauty of its colours.”] while at the same time it is possessed of marvellous skill in taking all due precautions against danger; the divers, they say, take especial care to find these, and when once they are taken, the others stray to and fro, and are easily caught in their nets. We learn also that as soon as they are taken they are placed under a thick layer of salt in earthen-ware vessels; as the flesh is gradually consumed, certain knots, [“Nucleos.” The Greek authors occasionally call them “stones” and “bones.” Tertullian calls them “maladies of shell-fish and warts”—“concharum vitia et verrucas.”] which form the pearls, are disengaged [Cuvier says, that the most efficient mode of extracting all the concretions that may happen to be concealed in the body of the animal, is to leave the flesh to dissolve in water, upon which the concretions naturally fall to the bottom.] from their bodies, and fall to the bottom of the vessel.

Chap. 56.—The Various Kinds of Pearls.

There is no doubt that pearls wear with use, and will change their colour, if neglected. All their merit consists in their whiteness, large size, roundness, polish, and weight; qualities which are not easily to be found united in the same; so much so, indeed, that no two pearls are ever found perfectly alike; and it was from this circumstance, no doubt, that our Roman luxury first gave them the name of “unio,” [Isidorus and Solinus, however, say that the pearl is so called, because two are never found together. The derivation given by Pliny is, however, the more probable one. From the Latin “unio,” comes our word “onion;” which, like the pearl, consists of numerous coats, one laid upon the other.] or the unique gem: for a similar name is not given them by the Greeks; nor, indeed, among the barbarians by whom they are found are they called anything else but “margaritæ.” [Hence we must conclude that the word “margarita” is not of Greek, but Eastern origin.] Even in the very whiteness of the pearl there is a great difference to be observed. Those are of a much clearer water that are found in the Red Sea, [Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, says, that the Indian pearls, and those which come from the Red Sea, are the best.] while the Indian pearl resembles in tint the scales [The laminæ of the lapis specularis, described by Pliny, B. xxxvi. c. 45.] of the mirror-stone, but exceeds all the others in size. The colour that is most highly prized of all, is that of those which are thence called alum-coloured [“Exaluminatos.” It is clear from this passage that Pliny was acquainted with our alum, as he here clearly implies that the alum known to him was of a white colour. Beckmann, however, in his History of Inventions, asserts that our alum was certainly not known to the Greeks and Romans, and that their “alumen” was nothing else but vitriol, the green sulphate of iron, and that not in its pure state, but such as forms in mines. Pereira, however, in his Materia Medica, says, that there can be little doubt that Pliny was acquainted with our alum, but did not distinguish it from sulphate of iron, as he informs us that one kind of alum was white, and was used for dyeing wool of various colours. It is mentioned more fully in B. xxxv. c. 52, where he speaks of its use in dyeing.] pearls. Long pearls also have their peculiar value; those are called “elenchi,” which are of a long tapering shape, resembling our alabaster [These alabaster boxes for unguents are mentioned by Pliny in B. xxxvi. c. 12. They were usually pear-shaped; and as they were held with difficulty in the hand, on account of their extreme smoothness, they were called ἀλάβαστρα, from ἀ, “not,” and λαβέσθαι “to be held.” The reader will recollect the offer made to our Saviour, of the “alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious.” Matt. xxvi. 7. Mark xiv. 3.] boxes in form, and ending in a full bulb. [Seneca, Benef. B. vii. c. 9, speaks of them as hanging in tiers from the ears of the Roman matrons, two and two; and he says that they are not satisfied unless they have two or three patrimonies suspended from each ear.] Our ladies quite glory in having these suspended from their fingers, or two or three of them dangling from their ears. For the purpose of ministering to these luxurious tastes, there are various names and wearisome refinements which have been devised by profuseness and prodigality; for after inventing these ear-rings, they have given them the name of “crotalia,” [From their resemblance to “crotala,” used by dancers, and similar to our castanets.] or castanet pendants, as though quite delighted even with the rattling of the pearls as they knock against each other; and now, at the present day, the poorer classes are even affecting them, as people are in the habit of saying, that “a pearl worn by a woman in public, is as good as a lictor [That the pearls as fully bespeak the importance of the wearer, as the lictor does of the magistrate whom he is preceding. The honour of being escorted by one or two lictors, was usually granted to the wives and other members of the imperial family.] walking before her.” Nay, even more than this, they put them on their feet, and that, not only on the laces of their sandals, but all over the shoes; [Even on the “socculus,” or “soccus,” a shoe or slipper which did not require any “obstragulum,” or tie. We find from Seneca, De Ben. B. ii. c. 12, and Pliny, B. xxxvii. c. 6, that Caligula wore gold and pearls upon his socculi.] it is not enough to wear pearls, but they must tread upon them, and walk with them under foot as well.

Pearls used formerly to be found in our sea, but more frequently about the Thracian Bosporus; [Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, states to this effect from Juba.] they were of a red colour, and small, [They are found also, Ajasson says, at the present day, in some of the coldest rivers and torrents of Auvergne.] and enclosed in a shell-fish known by the name of “myes.” In Acarnania there is a shell-fish called “pina,” [Or “pinna,” the Greek name of this kind of pearl oyster.] which produces pearls; and from this it is quite evident that it is not one kind of fish only that produces them. Juba states also, that on the shores of Arabia there is a shell-fish which resembles a notched comb, and covered all over with hair [Cuvier remarks, that he is here probably speaking of some spiny bivalve, perhaps the Spondylus of Linnæus.] like a sea-urchin, and that the pearl lies imbedded in its flesh, in appearance bearing a strong resemblance to a hailstone. [“Grandini.” But Hardouin thinks, and probably correctly, that the meaning here of the word is the “measles of swine;” for Androsthenes, in Athenæus, B. iii., has a similar passage, in which he says: “The stone (i. e. pearl) grows in the flesh of the shell-fish, just as the measles grow in the flesh of swine.”] No such shell-fish, however, as these are ever brought to Rome. Nor yet are any pearls of value found in Acarnania, being shapeless, rough, and of a marble hue; those are better which are found in the vicinity of Actium; but still they are small, which is the case also with those found on the coast of Mauritania. Alexander Polyhistor and Sudines [He is also mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 12, and B. xxxvii. cc. 9, 11, 23, 35, and 50, as a writer on gems; but nothing else seems to be known of him.] are of opinion that as they grow old their tints gradually fade.

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 [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. Bad 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 Catifa, 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.] pearls are found, though small, and of a bad colour; for the deified Julius Cæsar [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.] wished it to be distinctly understood, [By the inscription placed beneath the thorax, or breast-plate.] that the breast-plate which he dedicated to Venus Genetrix, in her temple, was made of British pearls.

Chap. 58.—Instances of the Use of Pearls.

I once saw Lollia Paulina, [The grand-daughter of M. Lollius, and heiress to his immense wealth. She was first married to C. Memmius Regulus; but was divorced from him, and married to the Emperor Caligula, who, however, soon divorced her. At the instigation of Agrippina, Claudius first banished her, and then caused her to be murdered. A sepulchre to her honour was erected in the reign of the Emperor Nero.] the wife of the Emperor Caius [Caligula.] —it was not at any public festival, or any solemn ceremonial, but only at an ordinary wedding entertainment [Or rather “betrothal entertainment,” “sponsalium cœna.” The “sponsalia” were not an unusual preliminary of marriage, but were not absolutely necessary.] —covered with emeralds and pearls, which shone in alternate layers upon her head, in her hair, in her wreaths, in her ears, upon her neck, in her bracelets, and on her fingers, and the value of which amounted in all to forty millions [,600,000 francs, Hardouin says; which would make £304,000 of our money.] of sesterces; indeed [“Ipsa confestim parata mancupationem tabulis probare.”] she was prepared at once to prove the fact, by showing the receipts and acquittances. Nor were these any presents made by a prodigal potentate, but treasures which had descended to her from her grandfather, and obtained by the spoliation of the provinces. Such are the fruits of plunder and extortion! It was for this reason that M. Lollius [He was proprætor of the province of Galatia, Consul B.C. 21, and B.C. 16 legatus in Gaul; where he suffered a defeat from certain of the German tribes. He was afterwards appointed by Augustus tutor to his grandson, C. Cæsar, whom he accompanied to the East in B.C. 2. He was a personal enemy of Tiberius, which may in some measure account for the bad character given him by Velleius Paterculus, who describes him as more eager to make money than to act honourably, and as guilty of every kind of vice. Horace, on the other hand, in the ode addressed to him, Carm. iv. 9, expressly praises him for his freedom from all avarice. His son, M. Lollius, was the father of Lollia Paulina.] was held so infamous all over the East for the presents which he extorted from the kings; the result of which was, that he was denied the friendship of Caius Cæsar, and took poison; [This does not appear to be asserted by any other author; but Velleius Paterculus almost suggests as much, B.ii., “Cujus mors intra paucos dies fortuita an voluntaria fuerit ignoro.” It was said that he was in the habit of selling the good graces of Caius Cæsar to the Eastern sovereigns for sums of money.] and all this was done, I say, that his grand-daughter might be seen, by the glare of lamps, covered all over with jewels to the amount of forty millions of sesterces! Now let a person only picture to himself, on the one hand, what was the value of the habits worn by Curius or Fabricius in their triumphs, let him picture to himself the objects displayed to the public on their triumphal litters, [“Fercula.” See vol. i. p. 400, Note 3447.] and then, on the other hand, let him think upon this Lollia, this one bit [“Unam imperii mulierculam accubantem.”] of a woman, the head of an empire, taking her place at table, thus attired; would he not much rather that the conquerors had been torn from their very chariots, than that they had conquered for such a result as this?

Nor, indeed, are these the most supreme evidences of luxury. There were formerly two pearls, the largest that had been ever seen in the whole world: Cleopatra, the last of the queens of Egypt, was in possession of them both, they having come to her by descent from the kings of the East. When Antony had been sated by her, day after day, with the most exquisite banquets, this queenly courtesan, inflated with vanity and disdainful arrogance, affected to treat all this sumptuousness and all these vast preparations with the greatest contempt; upon which Antony enquired what there was that could possibly be added to such extraordinary magnificence. To this she made answer, that on a single entertainment she would expend ten millions [A fourth of the sum mentioned in Note.] of sesterces. Antony was extremely desirous to learn how that could be done, but looked upon it as a thing quite impossible; and a wager was the result. On the following day, upon which the matter was to be decided, in order that she might not lose the wager, she had an entertainment set before Antony, magnificent in every respect, though no better than his usual repast. Upon this, Antony joked her, and enquired what was the amount expended upon it; to which she made answer that the banquet which he then beheld was only a trifling appendage [“Corollarium.”] to the real banquet, and that she alone [“Et consumpturam eam cœnam taxationem confirmans.”] would consume at the meal to the ascertained value of that amount, she herself would swallow the ten millions of sesterces; and so ordered the second course to be served. In obedience to her instructions, the servants placed before her a single vessel, which was filled with vinegar, a liquid, the sharpness and strength of which is able [“It was because pearls are calcareous, that Cleopatra was able to dissolve hers in vinegar, and by these means to gain a bet from her lover, as we are told by Pliny, B. ix. c. 58, and Macrobius, Sat. B. ii. c. 13. She must, however, have employed stronger vinegar than that which we use for our tables; as pearls, on account of their hardness and their natural enamel, cannot be easily dissolved by a weak acid. Nature has secured the teeth of animals against the effect of acids, by an enamel covering, which answers the same purpose; but if this enamel happens to be injured only in one small place, the teeth soon spoil and rot. Cleopatra, perhaps, broke and pounded the pearls pearl; and it is probable that she afterwards diluted the vinegar with water, that she might be able to drink it; though dissolved calcareous matter neutralizes acids, and renders them imperceptible to the tongue. That pearls are not peculiar to one kind of shell-fish, as many believe, was known to Pliny.” Beckmann’s History of Inventions, vol. i. p. 258, note 1, Bohn’s Ed. We may remark, however that as the story is told by Pliny, there is no appearance that Cleopatra pounded the pearl. It is more likely that she threw it into the vinegar, and immediately swallowed it, taking it for granted that it had melted.] to dissolve pearls. At this moment she was wearing in her ears those choicest and most rare and unique productions of Nature; and while Antony was waiting to see what she was going to do, taking one of them from out of her ear, she threw it into the vinegar, and directly it was melted, swallowed it. Lucius Plancus, [Macrobius, Saturn. B. iii. says, “Monatius” Plancus. His name was in reality Lucius Munatius Plancus. He afterwards deserted Antony, and took the side of Octavianus; and it was on his proposal that Octavianus received the title of Augustus in B.C. 27. He built the temple of Saturn, in order to secure the emperor’s favour. It is not known in what year he died.] who had been named umpire in the wager, placed his hand upon the other at the very instant that she was making preparations to dissolve it in a similar manner, and declared that Antony had lost—an omen which, [“Omine rato.” He means, that in the result, it was only too true that Antony was “victus,” conquered, and that by his enemy Octavianus.] in the result, was fully confirmed. The fame of the second pearl is equal to that which attends its fellow. After the queen, who had thus come off victorious on so important a question, had been seized, it was cut asunder, in order that this, the other half of the entertainment, might serve as pendants for the ears of Venus, in the Pantheon at Rome.

Chap. 59.—How Pearls First Came into Use at Rome.

Antony and Cleopatra, however, will not bear away the palm of prodigality in this respect, and will be stripped of even this boast in the annals of luxury. For before their time, Clodius, the son of the tragic actor Æsopus, [Claudius, or Clodius Æsopus, was the most celebrated tragic actor at Rome in the time of Cicero, and was probably a freedman of the Clodian family. Horace and other authors put him on a level with Roscius. From Cicero we learn that his acting was characterized chiefly by strong emphasis and vehemence. Cicero characterizes him as a “summus artifex,” a “consummate artist.” He was a firm friend of Cicero, whose cause he advocated indirectly more than once during his banishment from Rome. It appears from Pliny, B. x. c. 72, that he was far from frugal, though he left a large fortune to his spendthrift son, Clodius Æsopus. This man, among his other feats, dissolved in vinegar (or at least attempted to do so), a pearl worth about £8000, which he took from the ear-ring of Cæcilia Metella. It is alluded to by Horace, B. ii. Sat. iii. l. 239.] had done the same at Rome; having been left by his father heir to his ample wealth and possessions. Let not Antony then be too proud, for all his triumvirate, since he can hardly stand in comparison with an actor; one, too, who had no wager to induce him—a thing which adds to the regal munificence of the act—but was merely desirous of trying, by way of glorification to his palate, what was the taste of pearls. As he found it to be wonderfully pleasing, that he might not be the only one to know it, he had a pearl set before each of his guests for him to swallow. After the surrender of Alexandria, pearls came into common and, indeed, universal use at Rome; but they first began to be used about the time of Sylla, though but of small size and of little value, Fenestella says—in this, however, it is quite evident that he is mistaken, for Ælius Stilo tells us, that it was in the time of the Jugurthine war, that the name of “unio” was first given to pearls of remarkable size.