PEARL PECULIUM. 



sieves of different sizes. The worth of a pearl is in 

 proportion to its magnitude, round form, fine polish, 

 and clear lustre. The largest are of the size of a 

 small walnut ; but these are very rare. Those of 

 the size of a cherry are found more frequently, yet 

 still very rarely. Pearls are round, pear-formed, 

 onion- formed, and irregularly shaped. The small 

 ones, sold by weight, are called ounce pearls, the 

 smallest, seed pearls : these are converted into pow- 

 der. In Europe, pearls of " white water" are the 

 most sought for ; the Indians and Arabians prefer 

 those of " yellow water." Some have a lead colour, 

 some incline to black, some are totally black. 



Pearls are found in the Elster, a river in the Voigt- 

 land, in the kingdom of Saxony, from its origin down 

 to the small town Elsterberg, as well as in the rivu- 

 lets which fall into the Elster, Since 1C21, a pearl 

 fishery has been established there, of course for the 

 benefit of the sovereign. Also in the river Watawa, 

 in Bohemia, and in the Moldau river, from Krumau 

 to Frauenberg, pearls are found, sometimes of great 

 beauty, and difficult to be distinguished from the 

 Oriental pearl. The fishery there is the property of 

 the owner of the land. There are also pearl fisheries 

 on the coasts of Scotland. Even in antiquity pearls 

 were an object of luxury. A pearl which Pliny val- 

 ued at about .84,000 of our present money, Cleo- 

 patra is said to have dissolved at a banquet, and 

 drank off to Antony's health. Another, called la 

 peregrina, was given to Philip II. of Spain. It was 

 oval, and of the size of a pigeon's egg, and was val- 

 ued at 80,000 ducats. Pearls were formerly used in 

 medicine ; but their medical operation is not differ- 

 ent from that of any other calcareous earth. Linnaeus 

 discovered how to produce artificial pearls from the 

 common river muscle ; but the process has never 

 been published, nor has it ever come into use. The 

 shells of the pearl oyster are the substance called 

 mother of pearl. See Nacre. 



There is a very curious passage in Philostratus 

 (Vita Apollon.), in which Apollonius the philosopher 

 relates that the inhabitants of the shores of the Red 

 sea, after having calmed the sea by means of oil, 

 dived after the shellfish, enticed them, by means of 

 some bait, to open their shells, and having pricked 

 the animals with a sharp-pointed instrument, receiv- 

 ed the liquor that flowed from them in small holes 

 made in an iron vessel, in which it hardened into 

 real pearls. The Chinese at present cause a certain 

 kind of muscles to form pearls. In the beginning of 

 summer, when the muscles repair to the surface of 

 the water, and open the shells, five or six small beads 

 made of mother of pearl, and strung on a thread, are 

 thrown into each of them. At the end of the year, 

 when the muscles are drawn up and opened, the beads 

 are found covered with a pearly crust, in such a man- 

 ner that they have a perfect resemblance to real 

 pearls. The truth of this, says Beckmann, in his 

 History of Inventions, cannot be doubted. (See vol. 

 ii. of the English translation of Beckmann.) In the 

 same work curious facts respecting the discovery of 

 Linnaeus, and other points connected with this sub- 

 ject, are found under the head Artificial Pearls. 



PEARL ASH. The common name for carbonate 

 of potash. See Potassium. 



PEARL, MOTHER OF. See Nacre. 



PEARL POWDER. See Bismuth. 



PEARL STONE. See Pitchstone. 



PEASANTS' WAR. A war of the German 

 peasantry in Suabia and Franconia, afterwards also in 

 Saxony and Thuringia, against the oppressive taxes 

 and services under which they languished. As early 

 as the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th 

 centuries, opposition was made to the bond-services 

 in some places,, and to the insupportable exactions oi 



the nobility in others. The reformation in religion, 

 which now excited universal attention, gave men the 

 example of examining established usages, and a new 

 desire for a better condition arose among the oppres- 

 sed peasantry. The clergy and the nobility were deaf 

 to their call ; but the successful struggle for liberty in 

 Switzerland gave them hope. The peasants of A Isace 

 revolted, and, in 1513 and 1514, those of Wurtemberg. 

 John Bohme, a 'young man of the territory of Wurz- 

 burg, declared that the Virgin had announced to him, 

 that liberty and equality were now to be introduced 

 among men ; the earth was to be equally free for the 

 use of all. 40,000 men are said to have collected 

 around him, from Franconia, Suabia, Bavaria, and the 

 Rhine. He directed his followers to appear armed 

 on a certain evening, without their wives and children. 

 He was, however, arrested by the bishop of Wurzburg. 

 But 46,000 men marched to his rescue against the 

 castle of Wurzburg. They were routed, and Bohme, 

 with several others, executed. In 1525, the peasants 

 rose again, and sent twelve articles to Wurzburg, in 

 which they maintained the justice of their complaints. 

 They principally wished, 1. to elect their own curates; 

 2. that the tithes should be appropriated solely to the 

 maintenance of their curates ; 3. that feudal services 

 should be abolished; 4. that hunting and fishing should 

 no longer be the exclusive privilege of princes and 

 nobles ; 5. that the feudal services should be more 

 accurately determined, and the lord should not arbi- 

 trarily demand service from his vassal, &c. The 

 bishop promised to fulfil these demands ; but the 

 peasantry, who suspected his intentions, took up arms, 

 and even the citizens, whom he called to his assist- 

 ance, took their part. After Easter, in 1525, the 

 peasantry in arms marched against Wurzburg ; the 

 bishop fled to Heidelberg. They took Wurzburg, 

 and proceeded to burn and ravage the country around, 

 but were beaten near Konigshofen and Sulzdorf ; 9000 

 peasants were killed, or taken prisoners, and after- 

 wards put to death. Wurzburg was compelled to 

 surrender to the conquerors, and the bishop returned 

 there June 8, 1825. This war was not suppressed in 

 Franconia and Suabia till after it had cost the lives 

 of more than 50,000 peasants, without their attaining 

 their aim -the diminution of their burdens which, 

 on the contrary, were in some places increased. The 

 troubles in Franconia and Suabia, were succeeded by 

 the peasants' war in Saxony and Thuringia, which 

 was principally excited by Thomas Munzer. (q. v.) 

 See also the History of the Peasants' IFar, by Sarto- 

 rius. 



PEAT. See Fuel. 



PECULATION ; the term, in the Roman law, for 

 the embezzlement of public money belonging either 

 to the government or to communities. Under pecu- 

 lation, also, was comprised the adulteration of gold, 

 silver, or any metal belonging to government. Con- 

 nected with it, by a law of the dictator, Caesar, were 

 the crimen de residuis (if a person had received pub- 

 lic money for a certain purpose, and did not apply it 

 for the same), and the sacrilegium (the theft or misap- 

 propriation of money or other things sacred to a god). 

 In most governments, the embezzlement of public 

 money by public officers is severely punished. Pecu- 

 lation and treason were, by the French charter of 

 1814, the only crimes for which a minister was im- 

 peachable. For further information, see the article 

 Embezzlement. 



PECULIUM.. The Roman slave, with every thing 

 belonging to him, was, at first, the property of his 

 master ; but at a later period, a slave was permitted 

 to have a property in a portion of the proceeds of his 

 labour, as an incentive to diligence. This was styled 

 his peculium ; and masters were in the habit of mak- 

 ing agreements with their slaves, who exercised some 



