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THE PEARL
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A question
often raised, and which by its periodical revival seems to be a
favorite with newspapers and magazines, as well as, to the general
public, is, "Do pearls live and die?" It originated probably in
observations of certain changes that occasionally take place in pearls
which could be readily construed by a speculative or imaginative mind
to mean death. Sometimes with pearls the brilliancy of youth fades and
passes and the clear skin of early days takes on the hue of age.
If
now a ready pen waited on fancy to state the facts it would establish
an imaginative theory for centuries, for like gossip, a thing once
printed in a book will long pass on unquestioned and be quoted or
re-stated many times. There are pearls which for certain qualities
invite as a descriptive term the word live. There are others which by
comparison appear, and are described, as dead. Then there are others
that lose by untoward circumstances the live qualities they once
possessed and without dying become dead pearls. The calcite carbonate
crystals of which they are formed dissolve in acids and are affected
to a certain
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