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390 THE MAGIC OF JEWELS AND CHARMS
The
invariable experience of the writer has been that whenever pearls have
been said to have suffered in this way, the true explanation has been
that they were old and poor at the time of their purchase, and that
this romance was started on its travels as an excuse to cover up the
defect of such pearls and to arouse the belief that they had been
remarkably beautiful and valuable when they were originally acquired.
As
though to make amends to the Queen Gem for such disadvantageous rumors,
considerable publicity has recently been given to a report that, in the
Musée de Monaco, there was a luminous pearl whose beauties were
revealed by an inner light, so that darkness had no power to dim its
lustre. In a thoroughly impartial spirit, the writer went to the
fountain-head for information in this matter, and received as answer
from the director of the museum that there was no such pearl in the
collection and that he had absolutely no faith in the luminosity of
pearls.
As
has been seen, both of these legends must be set aside as false, and we
fear there is just as little truth in a report that a genuine
"pearl-powder" is now used by the fair ladies of Paris and by their
numerous imitators. The story goes that the Arab workmen engaged in
pearl-piercing in India are noted for the clearness—we can hardly say,
the lightness—of their complexions, and that this is supposed to be
attributable to the fact that, when resting from their difficult task,
they are in the habit of taking up some of the pearl-dust that has
fallen on the floor and rubbing their faces with it. As the conditions
under which these men work are eminently unsanitary, those who noted
the clearness and smoothness of their complexions came to the
conclusion that there must be something especially beneficial in pearl
dust, and brought the matter to the notice of a French chemist. The
latter proceeded to utilize the suggestion and com-
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