308 THE BOOK OF THE PEARL
Duchess: I
had a very strange dream to-night; Methought I wore my coronet of
state, And on a sudaine all the diamonds Were chang'd to pearles.
Antonio: My interpretation
Is, you '11 weepe shortly ; For to me the pearles Doe signifie your teares.
And
we quote also from "The Parson's Wedding" (1663), Act II, sc. 5, where
Jolly exclaims : "What ! in thy dumps, brother? The captain sad ! 'T
is prophetic. I 'd as lieve have dreamt of pearl, or the loss of my
teeth."
Tradition
relates that Queen Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV of Scotland, just
before the battle of Flodden Field (1513), had many fears as to the
disastrous issue of that conflict, owing to having dreamed on three
nights in succession that all her jewels were suddenly turned into
pearls. This was interpreted as a sign of coming widowhood and sorrow,
which was soon verified ; and a similar story is told of Marie de'
Medici shortly before the murder of Henry IV of France in 1610.
The
employment of pearls medicinally dates from an ancient period. This use
is mentioned in the oldest existing Sanskrit medical work, the
"Charaka-Samhita,"1 composed early in the Christian era; and likewise in the somewhat more modern "Susruta,"2 which probably originated before the eighth century.
It
is particularly in Oriental countries that therapeutic properties have
been credited to pearls. The powder of these gems has been rated very
highly there, and is still used to some extent. It was considered
beneficial in cases of ague, indigestion, and hemorrhages, and was
regarded as possessing stimulative qualities. Medical literature of
the Orient contains many accounts of the uses of pearls and of the
methods of forming them into pills, ointments, etc.
According to a treatise written by Narahari, a physician of Kashmir, about 1240 a.D., the
pearl cures diseases of the eyes, is an antidote to poisons, cures
consumption and morbid disturbances, and increases strength and general
health.3
In
China, as well as in other Asiatic countries, a distinction was made in
the therapeutic effects of so-called "virgin" pearls and of
