The barocche pearls are rather -valued in Spain and in Poland. The smallest are sold by the ounce.
There are some which, on account of the singularity of their form, have been compared to different objects and figures.
The
goldsmith avails himself of this peculiarity by making 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, brighter
and better formed, making a desired figure. Caire saw in one pearl
almost the head of a dog ; in another the golden fleece ; and in a
third he thought he perceived the form of the famous torso of
Belvidere. Amongst all feminine ornaments the pearl is that which is
the most becoming to youth. Unlike all other gems, it cannot be
beautified by the hand of man, who, in trying to improve it, spoils it.
It
is falsely affirmed by some that the yellow tint they acquire in the
course of years by contact with the air can be counteracted, either by
cooking them in bread, rubbing them with rice, boiled salad, or placing
them for a short time in the gastric juice of a fowl recently killed.
Italian
jewels are often found set with pearls. In the New Testament they are
mentioned. Twenty centuries ago they were used as ornaments in Greece.
Theophrastus
thought them equal to precious stones. Julius Cassar made a present to
Servilia, mother of Brutus, of a pearl which had cost him a sum equal
to one million two hundred thousand lire.
