16 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



rapidly coming into use for the manufacture of hacks for hand 

 mirrors, manicure and toilet sets, and for other purposes. 



It is the purpose of this paper to give an account of the history, 

 chemistry, and preparation oi this beautiful pearly liquid. There 

 will also be included some, though not exhaustive, information regard- 

 ing the manufacture of imitation pearls and pearly articles. 



TERMS USED 



In this paper, the term ''imitation'' pearls will be used to denote 

 those i^roducts made of glass, wax, lacquers, pearl essence, etc., 

 which resemble pearls more or less closely but have nothing in com- 

 mon with them in composition or structure. The term "artificial" 

 pearls, often used for such products, should be reserved for "culture" 

 pearls — that is, those produced by mollusks as a result of artificial 

 stimulation by man, such as inserting foreign objects into the mantle 

 of the moUusk. The genuine pearl is, of course, produced sponta- 

 neously by the moUusk. 



HISTORICAL 

 EARLY HISTORY 



It is not surprising that efforts were made early in the history of 

 mankind to imitate such valuable gems as pearls,^ and history con- 

 tains many references to this subject. It appears that the discovery 

 that first led to real success was made by Jaquin, a French rosary 

 maker, who, on the banks of a stream near his home at Passy, noticed 

 that the water in which a small fish (the able or ahlette, Alburnus 

 lucidus) had been washed contained a highly lustrous substance, 

 which, when concentrated by sedimentation, suggested in a remark- 

 able degree pearl, and application of it to small globes of alabaster, 

 wax, etc., produced for the first time remarkably good imitations of 

 pearls. 



Some references credit the Chinese with this discovery. Close 

 scrutiny appears to indicate, however, that they arise from a confu- 

 sion of the Chinese art of inserting small carved ima_ges and other 

 objects into the mussel, to be coated with the secretions, with the 

 manufacture of imitation pearls undoubtedly first invented b}^ Jaquin. 



Jaquin's discovery was made in about 1656. Reaumur (1716) 

 refers to it as having been "sixty years ago," though it may have been 

 in 1680, since the references are in disagreement. Jaquin experi- 

 mented with various materials to be treated with his pearly coatin^, 

 and the application of the luster in various ways, but nieanwhile his 

 pearls gained a reputation and apparently extensive distribution. 

 Beckmann (1786) relates astor\^, quoted from the Mercure Galant of 

 1686, of a penniless marquis who, at the suggestion of a servant, fooled 

 his fiancee with a string of Jaquin's imitation pearls which cost him 

 3 louis, the price for which if they had been genuine would have been 

 about 2,000 francs. 



Following Jaquin's time the industry remained for many years 

 entirely Parisian, though in time pearls were made in Holland, Ger- 

 many, Bohemia, and Japan. In 1806 a plant was established by one 



' See Beckmann (1786) for the early history of the subject. 



