NATURAL HISTORY, 



495 



This ojiinion, tending to alienate 

 haturalists from the belief of the 

 vegetable nature of coral, was en- 

 tirely removed by the publication 

 of the valuable and erudite work of 

 the celebrated coiite Marsigli, en- 

 titled Storia de Mare; who, led 

 awa)' by his imaijination, or rather 

 derivinor little aid from the state 

 of natural philosophy at that time, 

 suggested the idea, that the move- 

 able substances at the extremity 

 of the branches were the octope- 

 talous flowers of the coral, and 

 thus revived the old opinion. 



Tournefort, who, in the pursuit 

 of his favourite study of botany, 

 had remarked the vegetation of 

 stones in the grotto of Antipa- 

 ros, eagerly adoptt-d this idea; and 

 was followed by Ray, Boerhaave, 

 Klein, aud many others of that 

 time. 



No sooner had naturalists begun 

 again to take up the observations 

 of Bactone, than they discovered 

 in the hard substance of coral a 

 ' sort of earthy concretion ; but this 

 not being sufficient to induce them 

 to expunge it from the list of ve- 

 getable substances, they considered 

 it as a marine plant encrusted with 

 calcareous earth deposited by the 

 sea. Lehman was of this opinion, 

 to which the mineralogist Beaumer 

 was also much inclined. 



Our Ferrante Imperato, in his 

 work on natural history (which, 

 like many other works of the an- 

 cients, has been almost buried in 

 oblivion, though well deserving our 

 attention from its containing the 

 ! principles of many importanttruths, 

 I which have since been brought to 

 I light), had already supposed, that 

 I some of the species of coral were 

 '. merely the habitation of marine 

 worms. This opinion had so much 



of probability, that it has always 

 been entertained by naturalists 

 since; and the discovery of the 

 polypi assists to explain on solid 

 principles the true nature and ori- 

 gin of coral : and on this account 

 the works of Peys^sonnel, Jussieu, 

 Guetard, Trembley, Reaumur, Do- 

 nati, KUis, Pallas, Cavolini, Spal- 

 lanzani, and many others, on coral, 

 became so interesting. Coral is 

 found round nearly all the Medi- 

 terranean islands. Pliny and Dios- 

 corides speak much in praise of 

 that found in the Sicilian seas in 

 their time. It is fished for at pre- 

 sent on every part of the shores of 

 Sicily. 



The Messineze collect a great 

 quantity in those straits, even as 

 far as Melazzo; but the Trapanese, 

 who are chiefly employed in work- 

 ing the coral, not only fish it in 

 the neighbouring seas about the 

 Eolian and other islands, but ex- 

 tend their search to all the south- 

 ern shores as I'ar as Cape Passaro, 

 and beyond Syracuse, and even to 

 the coast of Barbary. They are 

 oblij^ed to occupy so large an ex- 

 tent of sea, as they cannot fish 

 again on the same spot for several 

 years, the re-production of coral 

 requiring a great length of time, 

 even nearly eight years. I have 

 myself collecttd it on the shores 

 of Catania, and thence as far as 

 Taorniina. 



The instrument with which the 

 coral is detached from the bottom 

 of the sea has been known a long 

 time. It is composed of a large 

 wooden cro>s, having fastened to 

 each of its four extremities nets 

 sufficiently capacious to inclose the 

 coral, which is broken from its 

 root by a large stone hangini^ from 

 the center of the cross. The in- 

 strument 



