248 CORALS 



The substance was evidently black or dark brown in colour ; 

 it was capable of being bent or twisted when subjected to 

 heat and it was hard enough to be given a polished surface. 

 Moreover, it may be presumed from various references that 

 it was a product of the sea. 



It might therefore have been the Keratin axis of one of 

 the Ple.xauridae, of one of the Gorgonidae, or of one of the 

 Antipatharia, or finalh' of Gerardia savalia. 



The Accarhaar Ham of Rumphius was probably a Plex- 

 aurid. The figure of the stript coral that Rumphius gives is 

 not conclusive, but quite consistent with this identification. 

 In the description of the coenenchym, which covers the axis 

 when it is fresh, he uses the Dutch word " Schorse," i.e. 

 bark, whereas in the description of another Accarbaar, 

 which is almost certainly a Gorgonid, he uses the word 

 " Korste," i.e. crust. In the description of a third Accarbaar, 

 which is obviously an Antipatharian, he uses the word 

 " Slijm," i.e. mucus. With such an accurate observer as 

 Rumphius was, we may assume that the use of these different 

 words for the coenenchym signified a real difference in 

 character between them. In the Plexauridae the coenen- 

 chym is relatively thick, in the Gorgonidae it is almost 

 invariably thinner, whereas in the Antipatharian it is 

 usually little more than a soft and delicate covering of 

 the axis. 



Rumphius states that the Accarhaar itam is not identical 

 with Pliny's Antipathes because it does not give the smell 

 or colour of myrrh on boiling in milk. For other reasons 

 than this, however, we may feel certain that the Antipathes 

 of Pliny and the earlier writers w^as not a Plexaurid. The 

 evidence seems to point to the conclusion that the black 

 coral commonly used by the ancients was the form mentioned 

 by Imperato (1599) as Savaglia and now known as Gerardia 

 savalia. (Until quite recently Gerardia was considered to 

 be an Antipatharian, but it has now been definitely placed 

 in the order Zoanthidea.) The reason for believing that it 

 was Gerardia is that this coral grows in the Mediterranean 

 Sea, whilst the Plexauridae do not, that it attains to great 

 dimensions (a great specimen in the British Museum being 



