Date sent:     Wed, 09 Dec 1998 17:00:50 -0500
To:                   mikew@seeds-of-faith.com
From:             Peter Francis. Jr.

Dear Mike,

[cut]

Job's tears are called many things, but that is the correct name. Its
botanical name is Coix lachryma-jobi L. Not only are Job's tears edible,
but they may well have been cultivated before rice. There is disagreement
on where they were first cultivated, Indians opting for the Northeast of
the country and Vavilov (the brilliant Russian geneticist who was
persecuted by Stalin's Lysenko because he disagreed with him --Lysenko was
the brain who kept cutting off mice tails .......... Vavilov thought
Job's Tears originated in the Greater Sundas (the four large Islands of
Indonesia). The earliest one I know of came from Timor (Indonesia) ca.
3000 B.C. The earliest use for beads is from a site of the Harappan (Indus
Valley) Civilization about 2000 BC or earlier. I also know some strung on
a wire from South India several centuries B.C.

In 1925 a woman published an article on them in a popular magazine saying
that they could not be dyed. They can, but maybe the process is relatively
new. There are three varieties: the tear-shaped, a long, spindle shape and
a globular shape. I think they're on my website. Input Job's Tears in the
Site Search Engine.

Peace,
Pete

Pete's website is at: http://www.thebeadsite.com
The page with information about job's tears is at: http://www.thebeadsite.com/PLA-WORN.html