It was told that when the Empress Eugénie of France was finishing her toilet preparatory to her wedding in Notre Dame in 1853, a personal attendant reminded her of the omen, and begged that she refrain from wearing her pearl necklace on that occasion. Eugenie paid no heed to the warning and wore the beautiful jewels just the same; and, as all the world knows, her life has been one long tragedy. Since that necklace was a lengthy one, containing very many pearls, the bride who wears only a few on her wedding day need not dread the adage so much, for, unfortunately, no woman’s life is wholly free from grief; and most brides would doubtless risk a few tears rather than refuse to wear a wedding gift of pearls. It was a very old idea that to dream of pearls betokens tears. A suggestion of this occurs in John Webster’s “Duchess of Malfi” (1623), Act III, sc. 5: _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’ll 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! ’Tis 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,”[352] composed early in the Christian era; and likewise in the somewhat more modern “Susruta,”[353] 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.