|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: the Canadian asked was:
"Sir, what is a pearl?"
"My worthy Ned," I answered, "to the poet, a pearl is a tear of the sea;
to the Orientals, it is a drop of dew solidified; to the ladies, it is
a jewel of an oblong shape, of a brilliancy of mother-of-pearl substance,
which they wear on their fingers, their necks, or their ears; for the chemist
it is a mixture of phosphate and carbonate of lime, with a little gelatine;
and lastly, for naturalists, it is simply a morbid secretion of the organ
that produces the mother-of-pearl amongst certain bivalves."
"Branch of molluscs," said Conseil.
"Precisely so, my learned Conseil; and, amongst these testacea
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
