ORIENT PEA?vLS. 17 



Venice had then 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 from 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 with 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 

 lUuge (1860), I translate the following : 



3 



