PRECIOUS CORAL 119 



cavities of the coral. It is also supposed to keep 

 away evil spirits, and on this account it is given as 

 a gift to the dead. It is popularly regarded as pos- 

 sessing the power of warding off cholera and other 

 plagues. A change of color of the coral is supposed 

 to indicate the presence of poison or the danger of 

 illness. 



From the Middle Ages to the present time, the 

 control of the coral fisheries has been an object of 

 much rivalry among the Mediterranean communities 

 of Europe. During the Middle Ages the fisheries 

 were dominated by the Italian states. Charles V of 

 Spain obtained control of the Tunisian fisheries, 

 but the Spaniards were unable to hold them, and soon 

 lost them to the French, who retained them until 

 the French Revolution threw the trade open. The 

 British dominated the coral fisheries for a short 

 period early in the nineteenth century, but soon left 

 them to the French and Italians, who have held them 

 ever since. Until the French Revolution, Marseilles 

 was the most important center of the coral trade, but 

 since then the Italian cities of Torre del Greco, Gen- 

 oa, Naples, Leghorn, and Trapani have become the 

 leading centers. 



Nature of Coral 



Coral looks like a stone and appears to grow like 

 a plant, yet it is of animal origin. A single branch 

 of living coral is made up of a large number of very 

 small animals, called polyps, which form a sort of 

 colony. When one considers the large islands, such 

 as the Bermudas, that have been raised out of the 



