178 LECTURE Xt. 



be real ones, valued at a very high sum. Tne 

 servant, who put the Marquis upon this stra- 

 tagem, had previously assured his master that 

 these pearls withstood heat and moisture ; that 

 they were not easily scratched, and that their 

 weight was the same with that of real pearls. 

 This anecdote, which is detailed by Professor Beck- 

 man, proves that artificial pearls did not become 

 common, even in France, till many years after 

 their first invention. 



The trade of artificial pearl-making is still car- 

 ried on at Paris by the descendants of Jacquin the 

 original inventor, but they are also made in many 

 other parts of Europe, and with several variations 

 as to the colour and kind of the glass, and other 

 minute particulars. 



The Mytilus margaritiferus of Linnaeus, or 

 great Pearl Muscle, is not the only shell which 

 produces pearls. A species of the genus call- 

 ed Mya r and which is the My a mar gar it if era of 

 Linnaeus, also produces pearls, though, in ge- 

 neral, of a far smaller size, and of inferior qua- 

 lity. This shell is commonly called the European 

 pearl Muscle, and much resembles the common 

 j-iver muscle, though of a different genus. It is 



