1883. ] Pearls and Pearl Fisheries. 743 
his campaigns in Asia thirty head-bands of pearls, which he gave 
to the temple of Venus which already possessed a few. Pearls 
are spoken of as gifts made by Alexander Severus to his em- 
press, and by Julius Czesar to Servilia, the mother of Brutus. In 
the days of the decadence of the Roman empire pearls became a 
very common ornament in Rome among the wealthy classes, and 
were worn in great profusion, even upon the sandals, a practice 
reprobated by St. Paul (1 Tim., ii, 9). 
The story of the pearl dissolved by Cleopatra must be rele- 
gated to the domain of fable. No vinegar would dissolve a pearl 
of large size except after long maceration, and the acid which 
would perform it quickly would be absolutely undrinkable. That 
Cleopatra possessed a fine collection of pearls is doubtless true, 
since one large one, captured by the Romans, was sawed in two 
to form ear-pendants for the Capitolian Venus." 
The Persians have always been great admirers of pearls, fre- 
quent references to them appear in their literature. Hafiz, who 
Wrote in the fourteenth century, has this beautiful simile, which 
might be applied to his own verse: 
“ Whose accents flow with artless ease 
Like Orient pearls at random strung.’’? 
To come to more modern times we may note that the Sultan 
Solyman the Magnificent, in the sixteenth century, presented to 
the Republic of Venice a pearl valued at 200,000 ducats, which 
is Supposed to be the same as that bought afterward from a 
Venetian jeweler by Pope Leo X for an immense sum. The 
oors of Grenada used strings of pearls in repeating verses of 
the Koran, as Christians used rosaries. 
The largest pearl formerly known in Europe once ornamented 
the hat of the King of Spain. It was brought from India in 1620 
by Francis Gogibus, and was of great beauty but somewhat 
fective form. The Shah of Persia, in 1633, according to Tav- 
ernier, paid for a single pearl $65,000. This pearl was one of the 
most celebrated in Asia and had belonged to the Sultan of Aden 
Who obtained it from a merchant of Benares in exchange for 
three hundred horses of pure Arab blood. 
According to Frédé pearls were little known in France until 
the time of Henry II, and Catherine de Medici. 
p Cf. Frédé, Voyage etc., 1882, for an interesting résumé of this subject. 
*Sir William Jones’ translation. 
