Imitation Pearls

"Yon would hardly ihiok," said a dealer iu fancy goods, holding up a Itring oí Lr':iss iieads as big as a cheiry tuaiie in hnitaiion oí pearls, "that U aret tlic pearl tint on eaoh ono of those littlc globes the uves of at least fifteen bcautiful íish bad to bu sacrificad, would yon? But ihcy do, though, and nlthough llioy aro mndo in Venice, and that string represunts a catch of nearly üvc hnadrod íish, and tho exhaustion of a good many cubic inches of glassblowcr's breath, I can sell it to you for a quarter and mako a fair proiií. "They'vo boen turning out beads like these in Venice ever sinco 1656. There is a íish in the Adriatic thoy cali the bleak íish, but why bleak I can't say. There is uothing bleak about its appcarance. It is a graceful lish, with a glittering armor of silver scales. They are more prolific and swarm in larger schools tnan the herring. Ono day in 165C a resident of Venice, Salvator Jacquin by name, placed severa] of these íish in a sniall aquarium to observo their babils, After they had been conlined in the aquarium for somo time, he noticed that the water took on a pearly line. Believing that this was communicated by the scales of the bleak íish, Jacquin tricd somo experiments with them. He found that water could bo so densely chargod with tho tint froni these scales that glass on being dipped in it and then allowod to dry had every appearancc of a pearl. Ho coated glass beads with the hquid, and they werc readily taken for largo pearls. The coating would not resist much friction, however, and soon rubbed off tho surfacc. Finding that a groat sale could bc had for beads made in imitation of pearls if tho coating could bo made permanent, Jacquin conceivod the idea of having the globes blown hollow and then iixing tho fishscale liquid to the inner surface. This was a succoss from tho start, and the gtass pearl bead business got ils Ürs' boom. It requires tho scales of four thousaud bleak lish lo mako half a pin: of the pearl liquid. They are simply removed írom tiie iish, which aro as cheap as mossbunkers, and soaked it tepid water. Nowadays a very smal quantity of sal aniniouia and isingiass is added lo the liquid. It is introducec insklo the bead by a small tube, anc when it is dry, a coating of wax is run over :t. Fortunately for the fish, the trade in these beads, pretty and cheap as they are, is uot alarmingly large.' - Neiv York Sun.