CHAPTER XV. 



Coloured Pearls. 



Brighter the offspring of the morning dew, 

 The evening yields a duskier bir^h to view ; 

 The younger shells produce a whiter race, 

 We greater age in darker colours trace. " 



— Marbodus. 



N the above quotation from the curious 

 old " Lapidarium " of Marbodus, fol- 

 lowing the translation given by the 

 Rev. C. W. King, we have an exposition in brief of 

 the views of the ancients respecting the cause of the 

 various tints which are assumed by certain Pearls. 



It was commonly held by the early naturalists, 

 that the dark-coloured Pearls had been formed 

 either under the gloomy influence of the shades of 

 evening, or by an aged oyster. Dismissing these 



