pearls
to the reception of raindrops from heaven by the oyster, and one
gravely asserted that the fishermen always found more pearls after a
season of heavy rains. He did not state that the oysters rose to the
surface of the sea to receive the raindrops, neither did he explain
how these drops from heaven passed through the brine to the oyster
inviolate. Pliny was more definite; he stated that the quality of the
pearls varied with that of the dew from which they were formed and were
clear or turbid as it was. The pearl would be pale-colored if the
weather was cloudy when the dew fell into the shell, and large if the
dew was plentiful. Thunder during the reception of the drop resulted in
a hollow pearl and if lightning caused the shell to close suddenly the
pearl would be small.
The
people of Java and Borneo had a belief which should have been yet more
difficult to acquire. They asserted that the pearls themselves breed
and increase in number if placed in cotton. Clusters of twinned pearls
were said to be produced thus, and it is related that some had the
audacity to sell breeding pearls claim-
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