EARLY TRADE IN BLACK AND RED CORAL 249 



two metres in height and spreading fan-wise to a width of 

 over two metres) , and the surface of the branches is smooth 

 and devoid of spines. It is possible that in addition to the 

 Gerardia the main stem of some of the species of Antipatharia 

 that are found in the Mediterranean Sea may also have been 

 used. Gansius in his Historia coralliorum (1666) describes 

 a species, Antipathes hirsutum, found in the Sardinian Seas, 

 which is in length greater than the human stature. The 

 axis of such a specimen if polished would be difficult to 

 distinguish from that of Gerardia. 



The difficulty of determining the black coral of the 

 ancients, however, is due to the possibility that they may 

 have imported it from the South, in which case Plexaurid 

 or Gorgonid coral may also have come into use. Thus Pliny 

 says in writing on coral, Nat. Hist, xxxii. 11, " gignitur et 

 in Rubro quidem mari sed nigrius item in Persico — vocatur 

 lace — laudatissimum {i.e. red coral) in Gallico sinu circa 

 Stoechades insulas, etc." This passage indicates that the 

 most valuable kind of coral known to the Romans came from 

 the Isles D'Hyeres and other places in the Mediterranean 

 Sea, but a black kind was also imported from the Red Sea 

 and the Persian Gulf in which the Cor allium nobile is not 

 found . 



Black coral was also known to the Moors in early 

 times, and was very probably obtained by the fishermen 

 engaged in the famous red coral fishery off Marsa-al- 

 Kharaz, the modern Bona or Bone on the coast of Algeria. 

 The Arabic name for black coral was " yasz " or " yusz," a 

 word which seems to have some resemblance to Pliny's word 

 " jace." 



These few notes on the use of black coral in early times 

 may seem to be very fragmentary and inconclusive, but 

 they may be perhaps sufficient to create some interest in and 

 to stimulate further investigation in a chapter of zoological 

 mythology which has not yet been written. It is probable 

 that classical and Oriental research will reveal a great many 

 more references to this substance than are recorded in these 

 notes, and it may be expected that the excavations of the 

 antiquaries will bring to our collections some specimens of 



