Chap. 58.] PEAKL3. 437 



and sometimes another. Indeed, I have seen some which lay 

 at the edge of the shell, just as though in the very act of 

 coming forth, and in some fishes as many as four or five. 

 Up to the present time, very few have been found which ex- 

 ceeded half an ounce in weight, by more than one scruple. It 

 is a well-ascertained fact, that in Britannia 49 pearls are found, 

 though small, and of a bad colour ; for the deified Julius Caesar 50 

 wished it to be distinctly understood, 51 that the breast-plate 

 which he dedicated to Yenus Genetrix, in her temple, was 

 made of British pearls. 



CHAP. 58. INSTANCES OF THE TJSE OF PEARLS. 



I once saw Lollia Paulina, 52 the wife of the Emperor Gains M 

 it was not at any public festival, or any solemn ceremonial, 

 but only at an ordinary wedding entertainment 54 covered 



49 Cuvier observes, that most of the rivers and lakes of the north of 

 Europe possess the mya margarifera : the pearls of which, though much 

 inferior to those of the East, are sufficiently esteemed to be made an article 

 of commerce. Bad pearls, of a dead marble colour, are also very frequently 

 found in the mussels taken off our coasts. Pearls have in modern times 

 declined very considerably in value ; those of about the size of a large pea 

 can be purchased, of very fine quality, for about a guinea each, while those 

 of the size of a pepper-corn sell at about eighteen-pence. Seed pearls, of 

 the size of small shot, are of very little value. Tavernier speaks of a re- 

 markable pearl, that was found at Catifu, in Arabia, the fishery probably 

 alluded to by Pliny, in C. 54, and which he bought for the sum of "110,000, 

 some accounts say 10,000, of our money. It is pear-shaped, the elenchus 

 of the ancients, regular, and without blemish. The diameter is .63 of an 

 inch, at the largest part, and the length from two to three inches. It is 

 said to be in the possession of the Shah of Persia. 



50 Tacitus, in his Agricola, says that pearls of a tawny and livid'colour 

 are thrown up on the shores of Britain, and there collected. Suetonius 

 absolutely says, c. 4, that Julius Caesar invaded Britain in the hope of 

 obtaining pearls, in the weight and size of which he took considerable 

 interest. 



51 By the inscription placed beneath the thorax, or breast-plate. 



52 The grand-daughter of M. Lollius, and heiress to his immense wealth. 

 She was first married to C. Memmius Eegulus ; but was divorced from 

 him, and married to the Emperor Caligula, who, however, soon divorced 

 her. At the instigation of Agrippina, Claudius first banished her, and 

 then caused her to be murdered. A sepulchre to her honour was erected 

 in the reign of the Emperor Nero. 



53 Caligula. 



54 Or rather "betrothal entertainment," "sponsalium ccena." The 

 " sponsalia " were not an unusual preliminary of marriage, but were not 

 absolutely necessary. 



