PEARLS.— MOTHER OP PEARL. 69 



the doctor, seeing tlie little girl still twirling 

 the pearls upon her finger, " are white and lus- 

 trous and have the polish that pertains to the 

 very finest pearls. It has been suggested that 

 this wonderful polish and perfection of luster 

 which art can not imitate, may have been caused 

 by the continued friction of the soft body of 

 the oyster. 



" We hold such pearls as these in the high- 

 est esteem, but, since there is no accounting for 

 tastes, we find the inhabitants of some other 

 countries differ from us in their estimation of 

 these gems. We have been accustomed to 

 think of pearls as white alone, and we have 

 thought of them as Nature's expression of 

 purity. This is not the case with all admirers 

 of pearls. The people of India and of China, 

 for example, see greater beauty in those of a 

 bright yellow color, while others prefer those 

 that are pink. Pink pearls, as they are called, 

 are not all pink, but range in hue from pink to 

 red or even pale yellow or a dull dead white. 

 They are generally neither very beautiful nor 

 very perfect. Others of a black or leaden-gray 

 color are also sometimes met with, and when 

 perfect and of a good shape are highly valued. 



"As you already know, the Pacific Ocean 

 yields a rich harvest of these gems, and it 



