IIB 



PEARLS IN ANCIENT TIMES. 



dows, produces small pearls, as also the fresh-water mussel 

 of England, pinna, a genus of the same family with the 

 pearl-mussel, and even in limpets. 



PEARL PRODUCING SHELLS. 



The ancients were extravagantly fond of these beautiful 

 jewels: necklaces, bracelets, and earrings were worn in pro- 

 fusion ; a string of pearls was estimated by a Roman writer 

 at about forty thousand dollars of our money ; the single 

 pearl which Cleopatra dissolved and swallowed was valued 

 at nearly four hundred thousand dollars ; and a similar act 



