EARLY TRADE L\ BLACK AND RED CORAL 247 



in Jewish antiquities could throw any further hght on the 

 use of either black or red coral by the Children of Israel in 

 early times. 



The most complete account of this superstition in the 

 Malay Archipelago is to be found in Rumphius's Amboinsch 

 Kruidhock, xii. p. 195, published in 1750, in the article on 

 CoraUium nigrum or Accarbaar itam. He savs that the 

 natives make bracelets of it by soaking it in cocoanut oil 

 and bending it into the form required over a slow fire while 

 smearing it all the time with oil. It is then polished with a 

 rough leaf. Sometimes it is inlaid with gold or silver orna- 

 ments. It is sometimes made into sceptres for the chiefs, 

 and it is also made into a powder by grinding with a stone, 

 mixed with water and drunk as a medicine. It would take 

 too much space to give in detail the various diseases for 

 which black coral was used as a remedy ; but it is evident 

 that its virtue was not supposed to be confined to the cure 

 of rheumatism and other diseases, as it was used for ensuring 

 the healthy growth of children, and by adults for protection 

 against sorcery, and by the great chiefs as a symbol of dignity 

 or power. 



There were other kinds of Accarbaar or Bastard corals 

 which were known to the Malays in the time of Rumphius 

 and used by them for medicinal purposes, but the Accarbaar 

 itam or CoraUiiim nigrum was regarded as the most important 

 and was held in the highest esteem. Among these was the 

 Accarbaar puti, which, from the figure given by Rumphius, 

 was an Alcyonarian belonging to the family Isidae and 

 probably to the type genus Isis. This is of some special 

 interest, as the Mediterranean species of Isis was held in 

 high esteem by the Mediterranean races in classical times 

 and was currently believed to represent the petrified hair 

 of Isis. But that is another story, and one about which 

 only the most fragmentary indications remain. 



The task of identifying the various kinds of black coral 

 mentioned by the ancient and subsequent writers up to the 

 end of the eighteenth century is an extremely difficult one, 

 as detailed descriptions of the characters upon which the 

 modern classification is based are almost entirely lacking. 



