stones and pearls--though not always correctly with those of the
latter--the term "Orient pearl" came in time to denote one of fine
hue, so that the "orient" of a pearl is still spoken of as signifying
a sheen of the first quality.

[Footnote 2: On the pearls brought to Europe from both North and South
America in Shakespeare's time, see the writer's "Gems and Precious
Stones of North America", New York, 1890, pp. 240-257; 2d. ed., 1892.]

Many fine pearls of the fresh-water variety, not the marine pearls,
were found in the Scotch rivers. It was these that are mentioned as
having been obtained by Julius Cæsar to ornament a buckler which he
dedicated to the shrine of the Temple of Venus Genetrix. It was also
this type of pearl that was so eagerly sought by the late Queen
Victoria when she visited Scotland. Many of these pearls exist in old,
especially in ecclesiastical jewelry, and several are in the
Ashburnham missal now in the J. Pierpont Morgan library.[3]

[Footnote 3: See "The Book of the Pearl", by George Frederick Kunz and
Charles Hugh Stevenson, New York, 1908, colored plate opposite p. 16.]

Of the glowing ruby Shakespeare seems to have known little, since he
uses its name only in the conventional way to signify a bright or
choice shade of red. In _Measure for Measure_ (Act ii, sc. 4) the
"impression of keen whips" produced ruby streaks on the skin; even
more materialistic is the nose "all o'er embellished with rubies,
carbuncles and sapphires" (_Comedy of Errors_, Act iii, sc. 2). The
common employment of the designation carbuncle for a precious stone
and also for a boil was usual from ancient times. At least, we might
gather from this passage that the poet was aware of the distinction