and that, not only on the laces of their sandals, but all over the shoes; it is not enough to wear pearls, but they must tread upon them, and walk with them under foot as well. Pearls used formerly to be found in our sea, but more frequently about the Thracian Bosporus; they were of a red color, and small, and enclosed in a shell-fish known by the name of “myes.” In Acarnania there is a shell-fish called “pina,” which produces pearls; and Juba states that on the shores of Arabia a shell-fish is found which resembles a notched comb, covered all over with hair like a sea-urchin, and the pearl lies imbedded in its flesh, bearing a strong resemblance to a hailstone. No such shell-fish, however, as these are ever brought to Rome. The Acarnanian pearl is shapeless, rough, and of a marble hue; those are better which are found in the vicinity of Actium. It is quite clear that the interior of the pearl is solid, as no fall is able to break it. Pearls are found in various places in the body of the animal. Indeed, I have seen some which lay at the edge of the shell, just as though in the very act of coming forth, and in some fishes as many as four or five. Up to the present time, very few have been found which exceeded half an ounce in weight, by more than one scruple.[146] It is a well-ascertained fact, that in Britannia pearls are found, though small, and of bad color; for the deified Julius Cæsar wished it to be distinctly understood, that the breast-plate which he dedicated to Venus Genetrix, in her temple, was made of British pearls.