196 PEARLS AND PEARLING 



fine tender luster, and except for the mother of pearl 

 base they have the appearance of genuine Oriental pearls. 

 Many of these are sold in this country to those who do 

 not know their real quality. 



The Japanese culture pearl is not entitled' to the name 

 of pearl because it is formed on an artificial base, and a 

 portion of it is artificial. In case they should ever be- 

 come "sick" they cannot be improved by "peeling," as 

 the genuine pearls are improved, for the "peeling" pro- 

 cess would expose the porcelain dome. 



They are sold as Japanese culture pearls. The Japa- 

 nese pearl industry is located in the Bay of Ago, Prov- 

 ince of Shima, on the Pacific Coast of Central Japan, 

 near the famous temple of Ise. 



If a system of pearl culture can be developed in. which 

 pearls can be produced through the natural method, us- 

 ing parasites as nuclei for the pearls, such pearls would 

 be genuine in every particular and should be sold as 

 pearls, without discount or apology. 



A very clever imitation has been recently placed upon 

 the market. These are known as hard pearls and are 

 made by coating a series of hard enamels over a suit- 

 able base. The system of building up the pearls from the 

 inside with each strata of enamel completely envelop- 

 ing the layers already formed is very similar to the nat- 

 ural growth of pearls. 



The enamels which are used for this purpose are com- 

 pounds of glass with different metallic oxides which pro- 

 duce the different colors. These are fused together 

 at a very high temperature. The hard chunks of 



