after
which they form them into troches, and sell 'em for prepared Pearl.
When ground to powder on a porphyry this Mother of Pearl is used by
women amongst their pomatum, for a fucus, to beautify the face."
Said
Sairey Gamp, (the Monthly Nurse, for all time), an authority about the
Skin, by virtue of her function : " Now aint we rich in beauty this
here joyful arternoon ! I'm sure," (dropping at the same time several
curtseys to Ruth Pinch, and smilingly shaking her head frequently), "
and often have I said to Mrs. Harris, ' Oh ! Mrs. Harris, Ma'am, your
countenance is quite a angel's — which, but for pimples it would be !'
' No, Sairey Gamp,' says she, ' Harris had it done afore marriage, at
ten and six ; and wore it faithful next his heart till the colour run,
when the money was declined to be give back, and no arrangement could
be come to. But he never said it was a angel's, Sairey, wotever he
might have thought.'"
The
pigment known as " Pearl white " is an oxide of the metal Bismuth ;
this powder is sometimes made use of by ladies as a cosmetic for the
skin, but it turns black when assailed by any sulphur-containing fumes
; and such ladies as thus mentioned, after bathing in the Harrogate
waters have come from the bath tawny-coloured of complexion.
A
Pearl of the first water should possess a perfect " skin," and a fine "
orient" ; being of a clear, almost white, translucent colour; with a
subdued iridescent sheen.
The
largest known Pearl is one, of irregular shape, to be seen at the South
Kensington Museum, in the collection of Mr. Beresford Hope. This
magnificent
