Gems Notes and Extracts Augusto Castellani, Mrs. John Brogden 1871

172 GEMS.The barocche pearls are rather valued in Spain andin Poland. The smallest are sold by the ounce.There are some which, on account of the singularityof their form, have been compared todifferent objectsand figures.The goldsmith avails himself of this peculiarity bymaking art finish that which Nature has, so to say,merely sketched ; and, by means of the setting in gold,and the addition of other ornamental stones, brighterand better formed, making a desired figure. Cairesaw in one pearl almost the head of a dog ; in anotherthe golden fleece ;and in a third he thought he perceivedthe form of the famous torso of Belvidere.Amongst all feminine ornaments the pearl is thatwhich is the most becoming to youth. Unlike allother gems, it cannot be beautified byman, who, in trying to improve it, spoils it.the hand ofIt is falsely affirmed by some that the yellow tintthey acquire in the course of years by contact with theair can be counteracted, either by cooking them inbread, rubbing them with rice, boiled salad, or placingthem for a short time in the gastric juice of a fowlrecently killed.Italian jewels are often found set with pearls. Inthe New Testament they are mentioned. Twentycenturies ago they were used as ornaments in Greece.Theophrastus thought them equal to precious stones.Julius Caesar made a present to Servilia, mother ofBrutus, of a pearl which had cost him a sum equal toone million two hundred thousand lire.