As many persons both in the trade and out of it, are not sufficiently familiar with pearls to be quite sure of their ability to detect the genuine from fine imitations, the following points of difference will be of service. All imitation pearls made of some solid material are heavier than the genuine and lack the pearly characteristics of the fine imitations even. If made of solid glass without acid finish, they are shiny and too poor to require a second consideration, if acid finished they have a "ground-glass" appearance which is unmistakable. If made of other material of a vitreous nature, they are heavier than pearls, dull in luster or without luster, dark in color and unmistakably lacking in pearly characteristics. The only dangerous imitations are the Japan culture pearls and the hollow, glass bead-pearls. The former may always be recognized by the mother-of-pearl back, the latter by various signs. All these hollow glass beads, have one or two holes. They are coated on the inside with fish-scale solution and filled with wax. Some are treated with acid or sand-blasted to tone down the shiny, glassy appearing surface, and to hide the blow-holes in the glass. The effect is quite pearly, but the color is somewhat darker and they show some iridescence. Without the surface treatment they are more shiny and under the loup one will discover the small blow-holes peculiar to surfaces which have been molten. The rims of the holes have a smooth, rounded, congealed appearance, whereas holes in pearls have a rough, square, chalky edge. On looking diagonally into the hole of a glass bead, the glass will appear as a dark ring against the wax filling, and where there are two holes, one will almost invariably have a ring in the glass, a short distance from and around it. The surface over the ring is smooth, though it looks as if it were ridged; the ring is in the glass, not on it. These hollow-blown glass pearls are lighter than the real pearls also. There is one never failing test however which discovers even the best of these most dangerous imitations. Drop a small spot of ink from the point of a pen upon one, and hold it between the eye and the light, when two spots will appear, the one nearest to the eye being a reflection from the inner wall of the glass resting against the wax, of the actual ink spot on the surface. The duplicate spot will be lighter in color than the original. On a real pearl there would be no such reflection, nor would it appear on a solid bead imitation, but as before stated, the weight of the latter betrays them, as they are heavier than the real, nor do they look as pearly, and on holding them between the eye and light they do not show the translucency at the edge of the circumference peculiar in a more or less degree, to the gem. FACTS AND FANCIES