pearl moths

pl. Entom. The genus Botys and the family Botyde, They belong to the Pyralid in a, and are called pearl some species. Botys urticata and B. vertical is are common among nettles. "Dropping liquid pearl , Before the cruel queen, the lady and the girl Upon their tender knees begged mercy." Drayton. (Todd.) (2) A white speck or film growing on the eye; a cataract. "It is feared you have Balaam's disease, a pearl in your eye."- Milton: Animad. on Rem. Def., § 3. (3) Something exceedingly valuable; the choicest part; a jewel. "I see thee compa 'd with thy kingdom's pearl." Shakesp.: Macbeth, v. 7. (4) One of the loops that decorate the edges of pillow-lace; also called purls. II. Technically : 1. Zoology & Jewel : A small, generally globular, spheroidal or hemispheroidal body of nacreous luster, and composed of compact and free nacres, found as a morbid growth in many shells. The best are from the pearl-oyster or Oriental pearl-mu el [PEARL-OYSTER], Avicula mar gar it if era ; others are from the British river mu el ( Unio margariti fer a), the Common oyster, Ostrea edulis ; from Anodon cygnea , Pinna nobilis , the Common Mu el ( Mytilus edulis ), and from Spondyl us gæderopus , Arca noæ, and Anomia cep a . The pearls in many of these species are white; in the Spondyl us they are green or rose-colored; in Arca noæ violet, and in Anomia cep a purple. Pearls have three layers like the shells, but the innermost layer of the shell becomes the outermost in the pearl. Dark lines add to the lustrous effect. The nucleus was formerly conjectured to be sand, but it is now found to be, as a rule, a fragment of brownish-yellow organic substance consisting of the bodies or eggs of internal parasites. Spherical pearls are not formed in the shell, but loose in the soft parts of the mollusk. Foreign substances introduced under the epidermis of the shell are coated with the lustrous substance. The Chinese take this means of obtaining lustrous bodies of various forms. 2. Her .: The same as ARGENT (q. v.). 3. Hunting: Marks on the deer's horns, near the root. "The pearls of the antlers, and the crockets." -Black : Prince of Thule , ch. xxv. Agate. 4. Print.: A size of type between Diamond and 5. Ichthy.: Rhombus vulgar is ; called also the Brill, Kite, Brett, and Bonnet-fleuk. ( Yarrell . ) B. As adj .: Pertaining to, containing, or made of pearl or pearls; as, a pearl necklace, a pearl ring, . pearl-barley, subst . [Skeat suggests that pearl barley is perhaps for pilled (=peeled) barley, as in Cotgrave orge pelé =pilled barley.] [BARLEY.] pearl-button, s. A button made of a shell. pearl-diver, s. One who dives for pearl-oysters. pearl-edge, s. A narrow kind of thread edging to be sewed on lace as a finish to the edge; a narrow border of projecting loops of silk on the sides of some qualities of ribbon; also called Purl-edge. IMG:content-0783.png:[blocks in formation] pearl-mu el, pearl-bearing mu el, s. Zoology: 1. Sing.: Unio mar gar it if era , which yielded the once-famous freshwater pearls. It is found in the mountain streams of Britain, Lapland, and Canada. The Scotch pearl-fishery continued till the end of the last century. The Irish pearl-fishery was abandoned at an earlier period. 2. Pl.: The family Union i dae (q. v.). pearl-nautilus, s. [PEARLY-NAUTILUS.] pearl-oyster, s. Zoology: 1. Sing.: Meleagrina (or Avicula ) mar gar it if era . The shell is le oblique than in the rest of the Aviculæ, the valves flatter and nearly equal, the posterior pedal impre ion blended with that of the great adductor. Mr. Archer says that they are of three kinds: The Silver-tipped, from the Society Islands; the Black-tipped, from Manilla, and a smaller sort, from Panama. The shells are sold at Manilla for $10 to $20 per cwt. †2. Pl.: The family Aviculide. [WINGS HELL.] pearl-plant, s. The same as PEARLWORT (q. v.). pearl-powder, s. 3. To knit in pearl-stitches. pearl-ā-ceo us (ce as sh), adj . [English pearl ; -aceous .] With a pearly appearance; resembling pearl or mother-of-pearl.