OSTREADiE, 
359 
S la pe; they are sold by weight. Those found in the body of the 
a mmal, and isolated, are called virgin pearls, or paragons. They are 
§l°bular, ovoid, or pyriform, and are sold by the individual pearl. In 
leaning them, they are gathered together iu a heap in a bag and 
forked witli powdered nacre, in order to render them perfectly pure 
I, 1 colour and round in shape, and give them a polish ; finally, they are 
Passed through a series of copper sieves, in order to size them. These 
Sl< ; v es, to the number of twelve, are made so as to be inserted one 
"uthin the other, each being pierced with holes, which determine the 
^ Ze of the pearl and the commercial number which is to distinguish it. 
nuj, the sieve No. 20 is pierced with twenty holes, No. 50 with fifty 
° le s, aud so on up to No. 1000, which is pierced with that number of 
o| es. The pearls which are retained in Nos. 20 to 80, said to be mill, 
aie Pearls of the first order. Those which pass and are retained be- 
^ ee Q Nos. 100 to 800 arc vadivoe, or pearls of the second order ; and 
"'so which pass through all the others and are retained, in No. 1000 
J, ; 'l°ng to tire class tool, or seed pearls, and are of the third order. 
They are afterwards threaded ; the small aud medium-sized pearls 
011 '"’bite or blue silk, arranged in rows, and tied with ribbon into a 
^P'knot of blue or red silk, in which condition they are exposed for 
in rows, assorted according to their colours and quality. The 
' s, Rall or see( | p ear l s are gold by measure or weight. 
America the bivalve is opened with a knife, like the common 
j^ikle oyster, and the pearl is obtained by breaking up the mollusc 
et Ween the finger aud thumb without waiting for its decomposition ; 
Dot 
*Tat 
are 
tr 
ls it boiled. This is a much longer and less certain process than 
pursued in the East ; but the Americans consider that the pearls 
preserved in greater freshness by the process — that they get the 
A 
Ue orient pearl, in short. 
Some few pearls have become historical, from their size and beauty. 
. T ea rl from Panama, in the form of a pear, and about the size of a 
s egg, was presented in 1579 to Philip II., King of Spain: it 
x 1 ? o x 
. Valued at £4000, A lady of Madrid possessed an American pearl 
^^05 valued at 31,000 ducats. 
r> Pope Leo X. purchased a pearl of a Yenetian jeweller for 
n >°00. Another was presented to the Sultan Soliman the Great by 
e Venetian Republic valued at £16,000. Julius Caesar, who was a 
