CYPRINIDJS OR CAEPS. 289 



sometimes fared with the burglar. 'As touching the 

 fishe which is the mother of pearle, as soon as it per- 

 ceiveth and feeleth a man's hand within^ by and by she 

 shutteth, and by that meanes hideth and concealeth her 

 treasure within, for well wotteth she that therefore she is 

 sought for. But let the fisher look weU to his fingers, 

 for if she catcheth his hand between, ofl' it goeth ; and 

 verily this is a just punishment for the thiefe, and none 

 more, albeit she be furnished with other meanes of re- 

 venge.' Though the object here stated was to remove 

 pearls already formed, it is not impossible that occa- 

 sionally the purpose for which the fingers were intro- 

 duced into the open sheU may have been to puncture the 

 fish for a 'future supply, for Androsthenes in Athenseus 

 informs us that pearls lie in a liquid state in the flesh of 

 the oyster, and to draw out these drops to harden into 

 pearls may have been sometimes a further design of the 

 ' thiefe.' 



Pliny gives a summary of all that was known in his 

 day about pearls. He speaks of the names given to dif- 

 ferent sorts ; of the comparative merits of each ; how 

 weather aflected their formation; shows how 'physe- 

 meta' pearls are but surface bubbles, and have no sub- 

 stance at all j* how the good ones are of many layers, 

 and have a firm compact body; how the best are formed 

 out of the realms of light, in the dark caves of the sea ; 

 how there are five points to be particularly attended to 

 in purchasing, viz. orient whiteness,t size,t roundness. 



* TertuUian says of all pearls that they are ' ooneharum vitia et 

 vemiose,' the weaknesses and wens of shell-fish. 



t ' In Britain it is certain that some do grow, but they be 

 small, dim, and nothing orient ; natUess Juhus Csesar, late em- 

 peror of famous memory, does not dissemble that the breast- 

 plate which he dedicated to Venus's mother within her temple, 

 was made of Enghsh pearls.' 



J Theophrastus speaks of pearls out of which precious neck- 



o 



