ORIENT PEARLS. 17 



Venice had tlicn established a reputation for this branch 

 of industry. 



''At first the glass balls were filled with various mate- 

 rials, generally with a base of mercury. But in the year 

 1680 a rosary maker, named Jacquin, conceived the 

 idea of using, in the place of this mercurial mixture, a 

 harmless substance that produced an infinitely more 

 perfect colour. 



" This substance, the essence of orient, is formed 

 from the scales of the bleak, or ablette, a little white 

 fish which abounds in the Seine, the Marne, and the 

 Loiret. 



" The fishes are rubbed rather roughly in pure water 

 contained in a large basin ; the whole is then strained 

 through a linen cloth, and left for several days to settle, 

 when the water is drawn off. The sediment forms the 

 essence of orient. It requires fi-om 17,000 to 18,000 

 fish to obtain about a pound of this substance. 



*' The scaly substance is liable to decompose quickly, 

 and numerous chemical agents are employed by dif- 

 ferent manufacturers to preserve it. These means are 

 kept a secret, but it is known that liquid ammonia, 

 or the volatile alkali, is one of the substances most 

 commonly used. 



" The process of colouring the pearl is commenced by 

 lining the interior of the ball with a delicate layer of 

 perfectly limpid and colourless parchment glue, and 

 before it is quite dry the essence of orient is introduced 

 by means of a slender glass blow-pipe. It is then 

 allowed to dry ; the pearl is filled w^ith wax, and, if 

 intended for a necklace, is pierced through the wax with 

 a red-hot needle." 



From a German book on precious stones, &c., by 

 Kluge (1860), I translate the following : 



3 



