pearl 
"enula, J>#T/," where enula is uncertain); = D. 
IMin-l, paarl, peerle = MLG. parle, perle, perlin 
= OHG. pernlu, perala, perla, berala, berla, 
MHG. berle, G. perle = Icel. perla = Sw. perla 
= Dan. perle; = OF. perle, pelle, F. perle = Pr. 
Sp. /icHrt = Pg. j;erota, jjerjo = It. perla ; < early 
ML. perala, perulus, perla, a pearl, prob. var. of 
pirula, a little pear, dim. of L. pirum, a pear: 
see pearl. Cf. Sp.perilla, a little pear, a pear- 
shaped ornament, Olt. perolo, a little button 
or tassel (Florio). Cf. JM*rP.] 1. A nacreous 
concretion, or separate mass of nacre, of hard, 
smooth, lustrous texture, and a rounded, oval, 
pear-shaped, or irregular figure, secreted with- 
in the shells of various bivalve mollusks as a re- 
sult of the irritation caused by the presence of 
some foreign body, as a grain of sand, within 
the mantle-lobes. The formation of a pearl is an ab- 
normal or morbid process, comparable to that by which 
any foreign body, as a bullet, may become encysted In ani- 
mal tissues and so cease to cause further irritation. In 
the case of the mollusks which yield pearls, the deposition 
is of the same substance as the nacre which lines the 
shell, hence called mother-of-pearl, in successive layers 
upon the offending particle. Fine pearls have frequently 
been found in working the mother-of-pearl shell. Chemi- 
cally, pearls consist of calcium carbonate interstratifled 
with animal substance, and are hence easily dissolved by 
acids or destroyed by heat. The chief sources of the sup- 
ply of pearls are the pearl-oysters and pearl-mussels, 
Aviculidee and Unionidse, and foremost among the for- 
mer is the pearl-oyster of Indian seas, Meleagrina marga- 
ritifera. Pearls are generally of a satiny, silvery, or blu- 
ish-white color, but also pink, copper-colored, purple, yel- 
low, gray, smoky-brown, and black. The flnest white pearls 
are from Ceylon, the Persian Gulf, Thursday Island, and the 
western coast of Australia. The yellow are from Panama. 
The flnest black and gray pearls are obtained in the Gulf 
of California, along the entire coast from Lower California 
to the lower part of Mexico. There are two distinct va- 
rieties of pink pearl : those from the common conch-shell, 
Strtnnbus gigas, of the West Indies, and those from the 
unios or fresh mussels found in Scotland, Germany, 
France, and the United States (the flnest being obtained 
principally from Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, and 
Wisconsin), also from the small marine shell Trigona 
pectonensis of Australia. Purple, light-blue, and black 
pearls are found in the common clam, Venus rnercena- 
ria. The yellow color of Oriental pearls generally re- 
sults from the decomposition of the mollusks in which 
they are found. The value of a pearl depends entirely on 
its perfection of form (which must be either round, pear- 
shaped, or a perfect oval), on its luster or " orient," and 
on the purity of its color, a tint of yellow or gray detract- 
ing very much from the value. Pearls are sold by the 
pearl-grain, four grains equaling one carat. (See carat, n., 
4.) From 1880 to 1890 the demand for pearls and the ra- 
rity of their occurrence resulted in an advance in price of 
from 250 to 300 per cent., the larger pearls having advanced 
more, proportionally, than the smaller ones. Until about 
1865, pearls were generally valued as multiples of a grain. 
The value of a pearl larger than one grain was estimated 
by squaring its weight and multiplying this by the value 
of a one-grain pearl : thus, a two-grain and a live-grain 
pearl were worth respectively 4 and 25 times the valueof 
a one-grain pearl. 
Perles many, 
A man shold not finde nawhere more fine ; 
Precyous rich were, of huge medicine. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4506. 
Hir steraps were of crystalle clere, 
And all with perelle ouer bygone. 
Thomas of Ersseldoune (Child's Ballads, I. 99). 
Infancy, pellucid as a pearl. 
Browning, Eing and Book, II. 125. 
2. Anything very valuable ; the choicest or 
best part; a jewel; the finest of its kind. 
I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl, 
That speak my salutation in their minds. 
Shak., Macbeth, v. 8. 56. 
Ah, benedicite ! how he will mourn over the fall of such 
a pearl of knighthood ! Scott, Old Mortality, xxxv. 
3. Something round and clear, as a drop of 
water or dew ; any small granule or globule re- 
sembling a pearl ; specifically, in phar., a small 
pill or pellet containing or consisting of some 
medicinal substance. 
Drinking super nagiilum. a devise of drinking . . . 
which is, after a man hath turned up the bottom of the cup, 
to drop it on his nail and make a pearl with that is left ; 
which if it slide and he cannot make stand on, by reason 
theres too much, he must drink again for his penance. 
Nashe, Pierce Penilesse. 
But the fair blossom hangs the head, . . . 
And those pearls of dew she wears 
Prove to be presaging tears. 
Milton, Epitaph on Marchioness of Winchester, I. 43. 
I have patients who carry pearls of the nitrite of amyl 
constantly with them, which they use to ward off impend- 
ing attacks. Medical News, L. 286. 
4. A white speck or film growing on the eye ; 
cataract. 
A pearl in mine eye ! I thank you for that ; do you wish 
me blind? Middleton, Spanish Gypsy, ii. 1. 
5. Mother-of-pearl; nacre: as, a pearl button. 
6. A size of printing-type, about 15 lines to 
the inch, intermediate between the larger size 
agate and the smaller size diamond: it is equal 
4344 
to 5 points, and is so distinguished in the new 
system of sizes. 
This lino is printed in pearl. 
7. In her. : (a) A small ball argent, not only as 
a bearing but as part of a coronet, (ft) The 
color white. 8. One of the bony tubercles 
which form a rough circle round the base of a 
deer's antler, called collectively the bur. 
You will carry the horns back to London, . . . and you 
will discourse to your friends of the span, and the pearls 
of the antlers, and the crockets ! 
W. Black, Princess of Thule, xxv. 
9. In entom., a name of many pyralid moths; 
any pearl-moth. 10. A fish, the prill or brill: 
perhaps so called from the light spots, other- 
wise probably a transposed form of prill. 
[Prov. Eng.] 11. Eccles., a name sometimes 
given to a particle of the consecrated wafer: 
still current in the Oriental Church. 12. A 
name given by gilders and manufacturers of 
jewelry to granules of metal produced by melt- 
ing it to extreme fluidity, and then pouring 
it into cold water. The stream in pouring should 
be so small, and the crucible held at such a distance 
from the water, that the metal will break up into flne 
drops (pearls) before reaching the water, which instantly 
cools them. The cooled granules are usually pear-shaped. 
The epithet granulated is more commonly applied in the 
United States to metals prepared in this way, as granu- 
lated copper, silver, zinc, etc., used in the preparation of 
jewelers alloys on account of their convenience in weigh- 
ing, and for other purposes pure granulated zinc being 
much employed by chemists for generating pure hydrogen 
gas, as in Marsh's test for arsenic, etc. 
13. In lace- and ribbott-making, one of the loops 
which form the outer edge. Also purl. 14. In 
decorative art. See purl. Baroque pearL See 60- 
roque. Blind pearls, irregular, lusterless, and valueless 
pearls, used for medicinal purposes in the East. Epi- 
thelial pearls, small spheroidal masses of flattened epi- 
thelial scales, concentrically arranged, occurring in epi- 
theliomata. Also called bird's-nest bodies and epidermic 
spheres. Half pearls, pieces cut from pearls that are 
very irregular and have only one lustrous side or corner, 
which is slit off. They are extensively used in jewelry, and 
are much less expensive than whole pearls, but are very 
liable to become discolored if wet> as the layers of the 
pearl, being cut across, absorb the water, and any impuri- 
ties it may contain show through the layers. Imitation, 
artificial, or false pearls are of two kinds, solid or mas- 
sive pearls and blownpearls. (See Lemaire pearl and Roman 
pearl.) The first are known as Venetian pearls, and are 
manufactured chiefly on the island of Murano, near Venice. 
They are made from small white or colored glass tubes, the 
desired hues being produced by the use of oxid of tin and 
other metals. Blown pearls consist of small globules of 
thin glass, coated on the inside with the so-called oriental- 
pearl essence, or essence d'orient. Their manufacture is 
attributed to Janin or Jalquin, who lived in Paris about 
1680, and who was the first to line hollow glass balls with 
this mixture, which he prepared with the scales of a small 
flsh, the bleak, common in France and Germany, and mu- 
cilage. The mixture was first suggested by his observing 
the pearly luster of the scales that were detached from the 
fish when they rubbed against one another in a trough. 
The scales of 18,000 flsh are required to make one pound 
of oriental-pearl essence. Inner pearl, in lace-making, 
ornamental loops worked around the edge of an opening 
in lace, as distinguished from pearl, which is a loop on the 
outer edge. Large pearl, in confectionery, the condition 
of clarified sugar-syrup when it has been boiled to such a 
consistency that, when a drop is taken between the finger 
and thumb, these may be separated to the greatest extent 
without breaking the connecting thread of syrup. In this 
condition the sugar forms a large drop, or "pearl," if sus- 
pended from a rod. Lemaire pearl, an imitation pearl 
composed of a solid glass ball externally coated with a var- 
nish composed of oriental-pearl essence, white wax, alabas- 
ter, and parchment glue. A. Casttllani, Gems. Little 
pearl, in confectionery, the condition of clarifled sugar- 
syrup when it has been boiled to such a consistency that, 
when a drop is taken between the flnger and thumb, the 
finger and thumb may be separated to nearly the full ex- 
tent without breaking the thread of syrup. Also called 
small pearl. Oriental-pearl essence. See essence. 
Pearl millet. Same as cattail millet (which see, under 
millet). Pearl onion. See onion. Roman pearl, an 
imitation pearl made of a ball of alabaster or similar min- 
eral substance, upon which is spread pure white wax, which 
in its turn is coated with oriental-pearl essence. Seed- 
pearls, very small pearls or slightly imperfect pearls which 
are usually drilled and secured by means of a horse-hair 
to mother-of-pearl or other light-colored material to be 
worn as ornaments. Large quantities are used in the 
East for medicinal purposes, in the composition of elec- 
tuaries supposed to possess stimulating and restorative 
qualities. Small pearl. Same as little pearl. Smoked 
pearl, mother-of-pearl having black or very dark veins 
or cloudings. Virgin pearls, unpierced pearls of flne 
quality. 
pearl (perl), v. [< pearl, n. Cf. purl 2 , !;.] I. 
trans. 1 . To adorn, set, or stud with pearls. 
By hir girdel hung a purs of lether, 
Tasseled with grene and perled with latoun. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 65. 
2. To make into a form, or to cause to assume 
an appearance, resembling that of pearls : as, 
to pearl barley (by rubbing off the pulp and 
grinding the berries to a rounded shape) ; to 
pearl comfits (by causing melted sugar to hard- 
en around the kernels, thus forming small 
rounded pellets). 
pearlin 
They [comflte] will be whiter and better if partly pearl- 
ed one day and flnished the next. 
Workshop Receipts:, 2d ser., p. 162. 
The [rice-cleaning] machinery is shown at work, and in- 
cludes the whole process of cleaning, brightening, and 
pearling the rice. Sci. Amer., N. S., LVII. 212. 
II. intrans. 1. To resemble pearls. [Rare.] 
Her long loose yellow locks lyke golden wyre, 
Sprinckled with perle, and perllng floweres atweene. 
Spenser, Epithalamion, 1. 155. 
2. To take a rounded form, as a drop of liquid: 
as, quicksilver pearls when dropped in small 
quantities. 3. To assume a resemblance to 
pearls, or the shape of pearls, as barley or com- 
fits. 
Put some of the prepared comfits in the pan, but not too 
many at a time, as it is difficult to get them to pearl alike. 
Workshop Receipts, 2d ser., p. 162. 
pearlaceous (per-la'shius), a. [Also perla- 
eeous ; < pearl + -aceous.'] 1 . Resembling pearls 
or mother-of-pearl ; pearly ; nacreous ; marga- 
ritaceous. 2. Dotted or flecked with white, as 
if pearled, as a bird's plumage. 
pearlash (perl'ash), n. Commercial carbonate 
of potash. See potash. 
pearl-barley (perl'bar'li), n. [Appar. tr. of F. 
orge perle, 'pearled barley,' which is appar. an 
accom. of orgepele, 'pilled barley' (Cotgrave), 
1. e. peeled barley: see peel 1 , pill 2 .'] Seebarleyi. 
pearl-bearing (perl' bar "ing), a. Producing 
pearls, as a pearl-mussel or pearl-oyster ; mar- 
garitiferous. 
pearl-berry (pe-rl'ber'i), n. See Margyricarpits. 
pearl-bird (perl'berd), n. 1. The guinea-fowl, 
Numida meleagris : so called from the pearla- 
ceous plumage. Also calledparWie. See cut 
under Numida. 2. An African scansorial bar- 
bet of the genus Traciiyphonus, as T. margarita- 
tns, so called from the profusion of pearly-white 
spots. 
pearl-bine (perl'blo), n. Pearly blue; clear 
pale blue, like the bloom on a plum. 
pearl-bush (perl'bush), . A fine flowering 
shrub, Exocliorda grandiflora, making, when 
grown, a dense bush 10 feet high and equally 
broad. 
pearl-disease (perl'di-zez"), . [Tr. G. perl- 
sucht.] Tuberculosis in cattle. Also pearly 
disease. 
pearl-diver (perl'dl'ver), . One who dives 
for pearl-oysters. 
pearled (perld), a. [< ME. perled; < pearl + 
-ed 2 .] 1. Set or adorned with pearls, or with 
anything resembling pearls. 
And many a pearled garnement 
Embrouded was ayein the dale. 
Goiver, Conf. Amant., L 
Under the bowers 
Where the Ocean Powers 
Sit on their pearled thrones. 
_ Shelley, Arethusa, iv. 
2. Resembling pearls. 
Her weeping eyes in pearled dew she steeps. 
P. Fletcher, Piscatory Eclogues, vii. 1. 
3. Having a border of or trimmed with pearl- 
edge. 4. Blotched. 
To whom are all kinds of diseases, infirmities, deformi- 
ties, pearled faces, palsies, dropsies, headaches, if not to 
drunkards! S. Ward, Sermons, p. 150. (Danes.) 
pearl-edge (pferl'ej), n. A narrow kind of 
thread edging to be sewed on lace ; a narrow 
border on the side of some qualities of ribbon, 
formed by projecting loops of the threads of 
the weft. Compare picot. 
pearl-eye (perl'i), n. Opacity of the crystal- 
line lens of the eye; cataract. 
pearl-eyed (perl'id), a. Having a pearl-eye; 
afflicted with cataract. 
pearl-fishery (perrfish/'er-i), . The occupa- 
tion or industry of fishing for pearls ; the place 
where or the means by which pearls are fished 
for. 
pearl-fishing (perrfish // ing), n. Pearl-fishery. 
pearl-fruit (perl'frb't), n. See Margyricarpus. 
pearl-grain (perl'gran), . A unit of measure- 
ment for pearls ; a diamond-grain. See pearl, 
n., 1, and carat, n., 4. 
pearl-grass (peri'gras), n. 1. An Old World 
grass, Alelica nutans, affording some pasturage 
in woody places. 2. Briza maxima, and per- 
haps Arrhenatlierum avenaceum. [Prov. Eng.] 
pearl-gray (perl'gra), a. and n. I. a. Of a clear 
cool pale-gray color, resembling that of the 
pearl. 
II. w. A clear pale bluish-gray color. 
pearl-hen (perl'hen), . A pearl-bird. 
pearlin, pearling 2 (per'lin, -ling), . [Cf. Gael. 
pearluinn, Ir. peirlin, fine linen, cambric ; ori- 
gin uncertain.] Lace made of silk or other 
