354 THE SEAS 



provided by the discovery, some years back, of a great 

 bronze shield studded with five large pieces of coral, in the 

 bed of the river Witham in Lincolnshire. 



Right down to the end of the eighteenth century, red 

 coral held a high place in the esteem of physicians and 

 figured largely in their prescriptions, but the increased 

 knowledge of chemistry and drugs finally showed that red 

 coral was just as valuable a medicine as powdered chalk, 

 of which it principally consists. The only relic of its 

 original virtues which still lingers is the belief that it 

 assists children to cut their teeth, the origin of the still 

 prevalent custom of giving small children necklaces of 

 coral beads. 



A black coral is also mentioned in ancient and classical 

 literature. It was also believed to have great medicinal 

 virtues and was found in the Mediterranean and in the 

 Red Sea and Persian Gulf. It seems to have been the 

 black horny skeleton of Antipathes, a false coral very 

 closely allied to our sea fan. Having no decorative value 

 this coral is no longer used in Europe but bracelets and 

 other articles made of it are still worn in China, Japan, 

 the Malay Archipelago, and in the Indian Ocean, among 

 other things as a cure for rheumatism and as a safeguard 

 against drowning. 



Turtles 



Both as providers of the valuable "tortoise-shell" of 

 commerce and of meat which is either eaten or made into 

 the highly prized turtle-soup, the turtles are of value to 

 mankind. Of the many kinds which inhabit warm and 

 tropic seas, only a comparatively few are of commercial 

 importance. Tortoise-shell (never produced by the true 

 tortoise, a land animal) is prepared from the plates which 

 cover the bony skeleton and form a protection for the 



