have before me a very beautiful, white, 

 ten-grain, ball pearl taken from the Wabash 

 River, 111. The pearl is translucent and 

 when held toward the light shows a delicate, 

 light gray tint, darker toward the center. 

 As it rests on its fluff of cotton one may 

 see in it, first, about the circumference, a 

 narrow space of light gray, then one of light 

 purple changing to a delicate pink on 

 the side away from the light. Then a 

 splash of white light surrounded by light 

 blue. There are also faint suggestions of 

 emerald green, lavender and purple gray. 

 All pearls show these peculiarities in a more 

 or less marked degree, and no imitation I 

 have ever seen has this property. It is this 

 quality which gives to the gem its wonder- 

 ful fascination and the lack of which renders 

 all imitations so unsatisfactory. 



Conclusion 



Many well read and intelligent persons 

 are surprised to learn that fine pearls are 

 found in the rivers of this country. This is 

 not at all strange when it is remembered 

 that jewelers generally try to give the 

 impression that it is only from the Orient, 

 the land of romance and mystery, that 

 valuable pearls are obtained. We once 

 placed on exhibition in Boston at one of the 

 high-class jewelers, a number of our native 

 pearls, stating the circumstances connected 

 with their collection. A few days later we 



