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Margarita, Pearl

Magnes, Loadstone Page of 453 Margarita, Pearl Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
MARGARITA.
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MARGARITA: Μαργαρίτηs: Pearl.
This word is merely the Greek form of the Sanscrit Maracata, or the Persian Merwerid, and approaches yet more nearly to the original in Μάραγδοs, used by Menander (Ath. iii. 94). Theo-phrastrts, however, writes Μαργαρίτης (36) in his brief notice : *' To the number of gems admired belongs that called the Mar-garites : transparent by its nature : and they make out of it the necklaces of great price. It is found within a shell-fish resem­bling the pinna, only smaller. In size it is as large as the eye of a tolerably big fish." It seems to have been known from the earliest times to the Asiatic Greeks from their intercourse with the Persians, ever the greatest admirers of the Pearl. Homer (II. xiv. 183) describes Juno's ear-rings as TplrfK-ψα (glain, bead, Welsh) : this epithet " triple-eyed " can hardly apply to any­thing but the Pearl, especially as no precious stones are ever alluded to by this poet. Three pearls increasing downwards in size composed the ear-pendant most admired by the Persian queens, as their portraits on the gems manifest.
Athenaeus (iii. 93) gives an admirable account of the natural history of the Pearl-oyster, extracted from the Periplus of India by Androsthenes : " Of the Strombi, and the Porcellanœ, and the other shell-fish there are numerous varieties, and very different from those with us. There is also a great abundance of the Murex and other oysters : but there is one peculiar kind which the natives call JBerberi, from out of which comes the gem Margarites. This latter is highly valued throughout Asia, and is sold amongst the Persians and the regions inland for its weight in gold coin (προς χρυσών). The appearance of the shell is similar to the Pecten, it is not however striated, but has the outside smooth and furry. Neither has it two ears like the
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Magnes, Loadstone Page of 453 Margarita, Pearl
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