or dying. This seems to be a favorite story 

 and is often repeated. It probably has its 

 origin in the fact that the outer skin of a 

 pearl, after years of wear, may become 

 dimmed and lose a part of its lustre. As 

 pearls are composed of concentric layers of 

 nacre arranged like the coats of an onion, 

 the outer layer if dimmed through wear 

 may be removed, when a lively pearl will be 

 found beneath. Pearls are among the most 

 lasting of valuable things for although they 

 are comparatively soft and may be easily 

 scratched, they are very tough and one may 

 be pressed beneath the heel or driven into 

 a block of hard wood with a mallet without 

 injuring it a particle. Pearls are solid to 

 the center but they may, like the diamond, 

 the hardest of all known things, be crushed 

 by a blow from a hammer. Many suppose 

 pearls need cutting or polishing to perfect 

 them. On the contrary, the pearl is the only 

 gem which leaves nature's laboratory, per- 

 fect and complete. 



Imitations 



Like many other rare and beautiful things, 

 pearls are imitated more or less successfully 

 but to tell the difference between the real 

 and the spurious is not so difficult as it 

 may at first seem. The most dangerous 

 imitations are the culture pearls made by 

 the clever Japanese who place beads of 

 porcelain or mother of pearl under the 



