no CORALS 



section of the coral growth rings are either absent or only 

 faintly indicated. 



It is this continuit}' of the growth, together with the 

 completeness with which the spicules are jammed together 

 so as to leave no space between them, which gives to the 

 red coral its hardness, purity, and lustre when polished. 

 There are many other Alcyonaria in which the spicules 

 become pressed together in this way, but no others in w'hich 

 the amalgamation is so complete that their individual out- 

 lines and all intervening crevices and spaces between them 

 are entirely lost. It is difficult to give a general description 

 of the shape of the spicules in a few words, as they vary 

 enormously according to their age and 

 position. In the younger stages they 

 are usually oval or spindle-shaped, with 

 swollen, spiny extremities, and bearing 

 two circlets of four large spiny tubercles 

 on the body ; but as they increase in 

 size they seem to develop in a great 

 variety of ways. The spicules of some 

 other species of Corallium can be dis- 

 tinguished from those of the Medi- 

 FiG. 50.— Spicules of Cora/- terraucau Corallium iiohile bv their 



liumnobile. >; 200 diams. ^■ ,< ^ >. 1 ~ i- 



peculiar opera-glass shape, a modi- 

 fication of the type produced by an uneven development of 

 the two circles of tubercles ; but the spicules of all the 

 species are so variable that they never afford a very reliable 

 character for the systematic arrangement of the genus into 

 species. 



The red coral of the Mediterranean Sea constitutes the 

 species Corallium nobile (Pallas) or C. rubrum, Lam. Of these 

 two names the former has undoubtedly the right of priority. 



The same species extends into the Atlantic Ocean, and a 

 fishery of red coral on a smaller scale has been established 

 in the Cape Verde Islands and Madeira. 



Other species of the same genus have been found off the 

 coasts of Japan, Timor, Djilolo, and Mauritius, and a few^ 

 specimens in deep water off the west coast of Ireland, in the 

 Bav of Biscav, and other localities. 



