el_ and _moon_, which is also given in a Japanese lexicon as
_divine pearl_, the pearl of the bright moon.

"When the clouds approached and covered the moon, the ancient Chinese
may have thought that the dragons had seized and swallowed this pearl,
more brilliant than all the pearls of the sea" (de Visser, p. 108).

The difficulty de Visser finds in regarding his own theory as wholly
satisfactory is, first, the red colour of the ball, and secondly, the
spiral pattern upon it. He explains the colour as possibly an attempt to
represent the pearl's lustre. But de Visser seems to have overlooked the
fact that red and rose-coloured pearls obtained from the conch-shell
were used in China and Japan.[170]

"The spiral is much used in delineating the sacred pearls of Buddhism,
so that it might have served also to design those of Taoism; although I
must acknowledge that the spiral of the Buddhist pearl goes upward,
while the spiral of the dragon is flat" (p. 103).

De Visser sums up the whole argument in these words:--

"These are, however, all mere suppositions. The only facts we know are:
the eager attitude of the dragons, ready to grasp and swallow the ball;
the ideas of the Chinese themselves as to the ball being the moon or a
pearl; the existence of a kind of sacred "moon-pearl"; the red colour of
the ball, its emitting flames and its spiral-like form. As the three
last facts are in favour of the thunder theory, I should be inclined to
prefer the latter. Yet I am convinced that the dragons do not _belch
out_ the thunder. If their trying to _grasp_ or _swallow_ the thunder
could be explained, I should immediately accept the theory concerning
the thunder-spiral, especially on account of the flames it emits. But I
do not see the reason why the god of thunder should persecute thunder
itself. Therefore, after having given the above facts that the reader
may take them into consideration, I feel obliged to say: 'non liquet'"
(p. 108).

It does not seem to have occurred to the distinguished Dutch scholar,
who has so lucidly put the issue before us, that his demonstration of
the fact of the ball being the pearl-moon about to be swallowed by the
dragon does not preclude it being also confused with the thunder.
Elsewhere in this volume I have referred to the origin of the spiral
symbolism and have shown that it became associated with the pearl
_before_ it became the symbol of thunder. The pearl-association in fact
was one of the