MYSTICAL AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES 309
those
pierced or bored for stringing. The Chinese natural history of Li Shi
Chin, completed about 1596, states that bored pearls will not serve for
medicine, for which unpierced ones should be used. It further adds that
the taste is saltish, sweetish, and cold ; and that they benefit the
liver, clear the eyes, and cure deafness. Dr. T. Nishikawa informs us
that at the present time many Mytilus seed-pearls are exported from
Japan to China for medicinal purposes.
Quoting
principally from Ahmed Teifashi, Whitelow Ainslie wrote in 1825 that
Arabian physicians suppose the powder of the pearl to have virtues in
weak eyes ; and they credit it with efficacy in palpitations, nervous
tremors, melancholia, and hemorrhage. Also they have this strange
notion, that when applied externally and while in the shell, it cures
leprosy.1
Statements
of the curative properties of pearls come also from Japan at a somewhat
recent date. The catalogue of the National Exhibition at Yedo in 1877,
Part V, page 78, notes that they soothe the heart, lessen phlegm, are
an antidote to poison, and cure fever, smallpox, and blear-eyedness.
The
popular modern idea in India as to the therapeutic value was thus
expressed by a native prince, Sourindro Mohun Tagore, Mus. Doc, the
Maharajah of Tagore, in 1881 :
The
use of pearls conduces to contentment of mind and to strength of body
and soul. The burnt powder of this gem, if taken with water as sherbet,
cures vomiting of blood of all kinds. It prevents evil spirits working
mischief in the minds of men, takes off bad smell from the mouth, cures
lunacy of all descriptions and all mental diseases, jaundice and all
diseases of the heart, intestines and stomach. Burnt pearl mixed with
water and taken into the nostrils, as a powder, takes away
headsickness, cures cataract, lachryma and swelling of the eyes, the
painful sensation such as is caused by the entry of sand into them, and
ulcers. Used as a dentifrice, it strengthens the gums and cleanses the
teeth. Rubbed on the body with other medicines, it cures all skin
diseases. It stops bleeding from cuts and ultimately heals them up.
Whether taken internally or externally, it is a sure antidote to
poison. It drives away all imaginary fears and removes all bodily pain.
To prevent its tendency to affect the brain, it should always be used
with the burnt powder of basud, and in its absence with that of white
mother-of-pearl. The dose of pearl powder should not exceed 2}4 mashas
[19.68 grs.].2
The
Hindus credited specific virtues to pearls of different colors: the
yellow brought wealth, the honey shade fostered understanding, the
white attracted fame, and the blue, good luck. Defective pearls caused
leprosy, loss of fortune, disgrace, insanity, and death, according
* Ainslie, "Materia Indica," London, 1826, Vol. I, p. 292. * "Mani-mâlâ," Calcutta, 1881, p. 871.
