Pink Pearls. 271 



hematite is said to be found, and to be worked up 

 so as to represent black Pearls. Such imitations, 

 however, do not in the least mislead a practised eye, 

 for they lack the true sheen and lustre of a natural 

 Pearl, and are immediately distinguished by their 

 weight, the density of hematite being considerably 

 greater than that of carbonate of lime — the substance 

 of the Pearl. 



Pink Pearls. 

 It has sometimes been assumed that the ancients 

 were familiar with pink Pearls — the assumption being 

 based on the slender evidence of a passage in Pliny, 

 which refers to Pearls of a ruddy hue. In Dr. 

 Holland's quaint translation we read that "Pearles 

 were wont to be found in our seas of Italie ; but they 

 were small and ruddie, in certain little shell-fishes 

 which they called Myae." 



The origin of the pink colour is as obscure as 

 that of the black referred to in the previous section 

 of this chapter. Chemists are aware that carbonate 

 of lime assumes a pink tint by the presence of man- 

 ganese, and a red colour by that of oxide of iron 

 but it seems more likely that the delicate roseate 

 hues of the pink Pearl are referable to some subtle 

 organic pigment. 



Pink Pearls are found in the rivers of South 



