94 THE OYSTEK. 



SO large a size that it would seem a wonder how the fish 

 could exist with them in the shell. These misshapen 

 pearls are generally of an uneven surface and lustre, and 

 are prized by the Eastern jewellers very much, and 

 were also sought after by the fanciful goldsmiths and 

 enamellers of the cmque-cento period, when they were set 

 into sword-hilts, or formed into toys or gems, just as 

 the fancy and shape might suggest. "We have seen one 

 large long pearl mounted by a Spanish jeweller into the 

 order of the golden fleece, the legs and head of the sheep 

 being of gold, the body formed by the pearl. Amongst 

 the loot taken at Lucknow was a set of miniature ani- 

 mals and birds, all formed of large but misshapen pearls, 

 the tails, heads, eyes, &c., of the creatures being of gold 

 set with diamonds. Any one who has seen much me- 

 diaeval work in the precious metals, or the illuminated 

 pages of early printed books on vellum, of Italian exe- 

 cution, will be able to recall many curious instances of 

 this quaint kind of vertu. 



The largest pearl of which we have heard was one 

 spoken of by Boethius, the size of a muscadine pear. It 

 was named the Incomparable, and weighed thirty carats 

 or five pennyweights. Tavernier's pearl would, if en- 

 graved, well illustrate the rocky, eccentric, and oft- 

 times triangular shapes in which these gems are found. 

 They often adhere to the shell, and cannot be removed 

 without the saw. After such an operation they would 

 merely rank as half pearls, which, by the way, are 

 those generally mounted in jewellery and rings. 



Did our scope allow of a description of the manufac- 

 ture from fish scales of the substitute for the real pearl. 



