234 Pearls. 



possession of the Pearls, so coveted by the luxurious 

 ladies of ancient Rome. It appears, however, that 

 the Roman conquerors after ransacking our rivers, 

 were rather disappointed with the Pearls which 

 they obtained, and condemned them not only as 

 being small but especially as lacking lustre. 



Pliny, as rendered by old Dr. Holland in the 

 phraseology of the seventeenth century, refers to 

 the British Pearls in these terms : — " In Brittaine 

 it is certaine that some do grow ; but they bee 

 small, dim of colour, and nothing orient. For 

 Julius Csesar (late Emperour of famous memorie) 

 doth not dissimule, that the cuirace or brest-plate 

 which hee dedicated to Venus Mother within her 

 Temple, was made of English Pearles." 



Mr. L. E. Adams in a recent conchological 

 work, reminds us that Tacitus refers to a theory 

 current in his time, to the effect that the dull 

 reddish colour of our Pearls was due to their being 

 collected from cast-up shells instead of being gathered 

 from living shells from the bottom of the sea ; but 

 he adds with characteristic dry humour that the 

 fault probably lay in the Pearls themselves, as 

 otherwise his avaricious countrymen would have 

 been sure to discover the best method of obtaining 

 them. It thus appears that some at least of the 



