Chap. 55.] HOW PEABLS AEE FOTJ1TD. 433 



CHAP. 55. - HOW PEARLS ARE FOUND. 



The fish, as soon as ever it perceives the hand, 26 shuts 

 its shell and covers up its treasures, being well aware that it is 

 for them that it is sought ; and if it happeos to catch the hand, 27 

 it cuts it off with the sharp edge of the shell. And no punish- 

 ment is there that could be more justly inflicted. There are 

 other penalties added as well, seeing that the greater part of 

 these pearls are only to be found among rocks and crags, while 

 on the other hand, those which lie out in the main sea are ge- 

 nerally accompanied by sea-dogs. 28 And yet, for all this, the 

 women will not banish these gems from their ears ! Some 

 writers say, 29 that these animals live in communities, just like 

 swarms of bees, each of them being governed by one remark- 

 able for its size and its venerable old age ; 30 while at the same 

 time it is possessed of marvellous skill in taking all due pre- 



26 Isidprus of Charax, as quoted by Athenaeus, B. iii. ; and 



Hist. Anim. B. x. c. 20, make similar statements. Rondelet, in his treatise 

 on Testaceous Fishes, B. i., complains of Pliny using the word " videt," 

 " sees," in the present passage ; but, as Hardouin says, he only uses it in 

 a free sense, meaning, " is aware of the approach of," or "has a perception 

 of." 



27 Isidorus of Charax, in Athenseus, B. iii., tells a similar story ; but 

 modifies it by saying that the fish sometimes cuts off \hz. fingers of the 

 divers, and not the hands. 



28 " Canes marini." He calls by this name the same animal that a little 

 further on he describes by the name of " canicula," " dog-fish ;" alluding, 

 probably, under that name to various species of the shark. Procopius, in 

 his book, De Bell. Pers. B. i. c. 4, has a wonderful story in relation to this 

 subject. He says, that the sea-dogs are wonderful admirers of the pearl- 

 fish, and follow them out to sea ; that when the sea-dogs are pressed by 

 hunger, they go in quest of prey, and then return to the shell-fish and gaze 

 upon it. A certain fisherman, having watched for the moment when the 

 she 11- fish was deprived of the protection of its attendant sea-dog, which. 

 was seeking its prey, seized the shell-fish, and made for the shore. The 

 sea-dog, however, was soon aware of the theft, and making straight 

 for the fisherman, seized him. Finding himself thus caught, he made a 

 last effort, and threw the pearl-fish on shore, immediately on which he was 

 torn to pieces by its protector. 



29 Such, for instance, as Megasthenes, quoted by Arrian in his Indica, 

 and JElian, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8. 



30 Hardouin suggests that a preferable reading to "vetuslate," would 

 be "venustate," by its beauty ; and indeed, ^lian, in the corresponding 

 passage, Hist. Anim. B. xv. c. 8, says, that the chief is remarkable " for its 

 size, and the extreme beauty of its colours." 



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