Mankind had probably no sooner taken to the use of oysters as food, than pearls were discovered, and at no period could they be so rude as not to prize the beautiful animal gem; hence, in the most ancient records which have come down to us, we find the pearl enumerated amongst precious articles. In China, so early as twentytwo and a half centuries before our era, pearls are enumerated as tribute or tax; and, at a later period, they are mentioned in the Rh-'ya (the most ancient of dictionaries, compiled more than ten centuries before our era) as precious products of the western part of the empire. They are also mentioned as ornaments, as amulets against fire, &c.