Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-02-07

How the vsnetians Put IL Upon the
Glass Reads They Make.

e~~' ~ 'SaStx0m8 t-ut upon the
Glass Reads They Make.
lyon would hardly think" said n
dealer In fancy goods as he held I'D a
string or glass beads, each as big as a
cherry, mace In imitation pearls, says
the New York Times. that TO put the
pearl tint and luster on each one OF
these little globes the lives OF at least
fifteen beautiful fish had to be sacri-
iced. would you? But such is the
fact, and, although the beads are made
In venice and this string OF them rep
resents catch Of at least 500 OF those
nsh ana the exhaustion OF good
many cubic feet OF glass blowers
breath, can sell it to you for % cents
and make fair profit.
They have been turning out beads
such as these in Venice for nearly two
centuries and half. In the Adriatic
lives fish called the bleak, but why
they named it bleak can't see, for
there Is certainly nothing bleak about
its appearance.
1T is graceful fish. probably of the
carp FAMILY, and has glistening ar
NOR OF silver scales. The fish are more
prolific than the herring, which has
been a good thing for them. One day
In 1866 an observant citizen of Venice.
with a turn for investigating things.
nls name Salvador Joaquin, placed a
numi'er OF bleak in an aquarium that
he % rght take note of their habits.
After they had been in the aquarium
some time he saw that the water took
on pearly hue.
believing that this was communi-
Gated by washings from the scales of
the fish. the Venetian observer experi-
mented. He found that water could
be so densely charged with the tint
from the fish scales that glass, when
dipped into 1t and allowed to cry. had
all the outward hue of pearl. He
coated glass beads with the SUBSTANCE
and the counterfeits were readily ac-
cepted as genuine pearls.
The coating of these beads, 1t was
found. though, had but slight resist
ance to friction and soon disappeared
from the surface of the beads. Assur
ed that large and profitable demand
for them would result If he could fix
the pearly luster on the beads SO II
would defy friction, JOAQUIN conceived
the idea OF havi.:g the globes blown
hollow and then attaching the fish scale
solution to the inner surface. This was
a success from the start. and the glsss
pearl business got its first boom.
1T requires the scales of 1000 bleak
TO make half pint of the LIQUID pearl.
The fish are more easily caught than
our menhaden. The scales are remov-
cd and soaked in tepid water.
The utility OF the liquid was i'm.
proved some years ago by the addition
OF small quantity of sal ammoniac and
isinglass TO 1t. These gave it a closer
and frmer set 60 the glass and increas-
ed the luster. The liquid is introduced
inside the hollow glass bead by means
or small tube. and when it is dry n
coating of transparent wax is run over
It.
Fortunately for the race of bleaks
the trade in these beads, pretty and
cheap as they are. is not so alarmingIy
large that extinction of the yielders OF
the pearl tint is imminent There are
apparently just as many bleak I'm the
Adriatc now as there were two cen.
turtles and half ago. and more than
likely there will be just as many two
centuries hence as now.'