Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t13.71

v2.c43.s3.t13.71

The steps narrated above amounted to cleaning of genuine pearl as well, an object for which additional procedures were recommended. Pearls could be cooked in the juice of lemon and then rubbed with finely chopped carrot, when the samples could be bored quickly. Alternatively, pearls could be cooked in a matsyapuṭa or a fish-shaped crucible, with milk, water and lime-water in three successive steps. These were finally cooked in condensed milk, and then rubbed with clean cloth, when the real pearls were expected to shine brilliantly (GP, 1.69.35-37 and MM, 328-329); Garuḍa Purāṇa noted that this method had been originally recommended by Vyāḍi, the great ancient gemmologist (GP, 1.69.37). A Sri Lankan method was to put a white pearl, shining like glass, together with gold, one-hundredth of it by weight, in mercury for some time (adsorption of the gold amalgam provided a surface-coat?) before using it as an ornament. (GP, 1.69.38).