quite delighted even with the rattling of the pearls as they knock against each other; and now, at the present day, the poorer classes are even affecting them, as people are in the habit of saying, that “a pearl worn by a woman in public, is as good as a lictor[2636] walking before her.” Nay, even more than this, they put them on their feet, and that, not only on the laces of their sandals, but all over the shoes;[2637] 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;[2638] they were of a red colour, and small,[2639] and enclosed in a shell-fish known by the name of “myes.” In Acarnania there is a shell-fish called “pina,”[2640] which produces pearls; and from this it is quite evident that it is not one kind of fish only that produces them. Juba states also, that on the shores of Arabia there is a shell-fish which resembles a notched comb, and covered all over with hair[2641] like a sea-urchin, and that the pearl lies imbedded in its flesh, in appearance bearing a strong resemblance to a hailstone.[2642] No such shell-fish, however, as these are ever brought to Rome. Nor yet are any pearls of value found in Acarnania, being shapeless, rough, and of a marble hue; those are better which are found in the vicinity of Actium; but still they are small, which is the case also with those found on the coast of Mauritania. Alexander Polyhistor and Sudines[2643] are of opinion that as they grow old their tints gradually fade. CHAP. 57.—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH PEARLS—THEIR NATURE. It is quite clear that the interior of the pearl is solid, as no fall is able to break it. Pearls are not always found in the middle of the body of the animal, but sometimes in one place, and sometimes another. 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. It is a well-ascertained fact, that in Britannia[2644] pearls are found, though small, and of a bad colour; for the deified Julius Cæsar[2645] wished it to be distinctly understood,[2646] that the breast-plate which he dedicated to Venus Genetrix, in her temple, was made of British pearls. CHAP. 58.—INSTANCES OF THE USE OF PEARLS.