CHAPTER VI. 



The Origin and Formation of Pearls. 



Some asked how Pearls did grow and where ? 



Then spoke I to my girl : 

 To part her lips, and showsd them there — 



The quarelets of Pearl." 



— Robert Her rick. 



O many difficulties surround the study of 

 the Formation of Pearls, that it is by 

 no means surprising that a host of con- 

 jectures, often of a very fanciful and even wild 

 character, have from time to time been promulgated 

 with the view of explaining the origin of these enig- 

 matical little bodies. Many of the ancient ideas 

 respecting Pearls have been set forth in an earlier 

 chapter ; but with the advance of science these 



