CiMild ii!il\ m't llicni Ii(inic; hut, .'is llicir IrdiiMcs iiuTcasrd, llu'\- 

 ,i;"r;i(lnall\ iIiitw a\\.i\ llicir jirarls. 



I'l; \K1,S I'UdM C \ST.\I.I.\.\ Sl'KIM.S MdlXli. 



S(.'\cral l)t'aiitilul pearls wcw taken 1)\ me from llu- L;ravc of 

 an Indian in a great burial mound at C'aslalian Springs, Ten- 

 nessee. These pearls were fitted arcnuid the edge of a beautiful 

 sacred gorget, which he wore suspended from his neck. Imagine 

 this beautiful, engraved shell gorget, with its rich roseate pink 

 edge studded with these lustrous pearls. This pearl-studded gor- 

 get is probably the finest article or adornment ever taken from 

 the grave of a mound builder. 



I s])ent two summers exploring this old mound-builder town 

 at Castalian Springs. Its story is very interesting. No scientist 

 ever had the good fortune to discover and explore more interesting 

 remains of the unknown past, situated in one of the most beau- 

 tiful sections of the South, inhabited by such splendidly hospitable 

 people. 



The Imperial Pearl Set oe EmprE.ss Eugenie. 



I have in my possession one of the most beautiful specimens 

 of artistic pearl jewelry human ingenuity has ever produced. It 

 is the Imperial Pearl Set of Empress Eugenie. It contains over 

 one thousand oriental pearls. Its value is about $20,000.00. The 

 mounting and arrangement of these pearls required all the time 

 of one man for over three months. This historic pearl set of the 

 Empress Eugenie is the property of my brother, Mr. Herman 

 Myer, of New York City. 



Another quaint pearl set, which I have, in its old and worn 

 case, has a history in which is interwoven some of the brightest 

 and some of the saddest things of the last hundred years. Eu- 

 genie, whose mother was a citizen of the United Staes and whose 

 father was a blue-blooded grandee of old Spain, married the 

 Emperor Napoleon III. It was one of the few royal marriages 

 for love. Great pressure was brought on Napoleon not to marry 

 her, but to marry a woman of a reigning house who could help 

 him politically. Napoleon, to his credit, told them he preferred 

 love to increase in power. This pearl set, consisting of tiara, 

 brooch, ear drops, necklace and bracelets, was one of the emperor's 

 gifts to his wife. At the fall of the empire, in 1870, it was part 

 of the jewelry the unfortunate empress was able to bring away. 

 She gave it to one of her loyal friends, who, at the risk of his 

 own life, helped her to escape to England. 



70 



