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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
Q 2
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