412 



roil A L. 



which, we believe, were ever acted, although three 

 of them were printed. He was educated ut Saint 

 Paul's school ; was m:ttrieul;ited ;is :i ineiiiber of 

 Pembroke college, Oxford, May 2'J, 1778, took the 

 degree of B.A. April 10, 1782, and Dec. 30, 1784, 

 was elected u scholar on the Beriet or Ossulstone 

 foundation in that society. He proceeded M.A. 

 June 21, 1785; B.C.L. by commutation, July 10, 

 17X. and D.C.L. July 14, following, and was ad- 

 mittod into the chartered college of doctors of law 

 on the 3d Nov. in the same year. Deeply imbued 

 with classical learning and a love of literature, he 

 soon applied himself to those pursuits which were 

 most congenial to his mind. For some years he 

 edited the Critical Review, at a time when Dr 

 Southey, the late Mr Pinkerton, D'Israeli, and 

 other eminent literary men, contributed their talents 

 to that well-known periodical. The first fruit of 

 his application to original composition was the 

 " Elements of the Grammar of the English Lan- 

 guage," 1788 a work of deep research and learn- 

 ing, interesting both to the grammarian and to the 

 philologist, and which was highly commended, and 

 soon reached a second edition. He next wrote a 

 " History of England, from the earliest dawn of 

 record to the peace of 1783;" which appeared in 

 nine volumes at different times from 1791 to 1797; 

 to which he afterwards added another volume, 

 bringing down the history to the peace of Amiens 

 in 1802. Of this history it may be said, that it 

 exhibits a clear narrative, with well drawn char- 

 acters, and sentiments strictly constitutional and 

 impartially just. About the beginning of the pre- 

 sent century he published a " History of the Union 

 with Great Britain and Ireland." In 1804 ap- 

 peared his " Lives of English Civilians ;" a unique 

 work, which no one had hitherto attempted. In 

 1815 he published the History of Ancient Europe, 

 a comprehensive work, upon which he bestowed 

 much time and pains. Graii Elegia sepulchralis 

 cultu Graco donata; 1794. Life of Julius Caesar; 

 1796, 12mo. A Continuation to Russell's History 

 of Modern Europe, from 1763 to the Pacification 

 of Paris in 1815 ; two vols. 1818. The same, con- 

 tinued to 1825 ; Lond. 1827. A Continuation to 

 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History by Maclaine to 

 the 18th Century; six vols. 8vo. 1811. History 

 of Ancient Europe, with a Survey of the most im- 

 portant Revolutions in Asia and Africa; being a 

 third volume of Russell's Ancient Europe ; 1815. 

 Dr Coote died, Nov. 19, 1835, aged seventy-six. 

 Of a retired disposition, with much of that eccen- 

 tricity and indolence which often accompany literary 

 merit, he passed through his profession with credit 

 and respect, but without that emolument which 

 was perhaps due to his abilities had they been more 

 exerted. Of a nervous and morbid temperament, 

 and therefore easily yielding to despondency in any 

 adverse state of his affairs, he was nevertheless 

 cheerful and gentle in manners, and conscientiously 

 upright in his dealings. He left three sons and 

 two daughters. 



CORAL, (a.) The substance called Coral ap- 

 pears to have been considered a vegetable produc- 

 tion until about the year 1720, when M. de Pey- 

 ronnel of Marseilles commenced a series of obser- 

 vations, by which he ascertained that coral, instead 

 of being a plant, was the produce of a living animal 

 of the polypi tribe. 



The Coraliferous Polypus is a small, soft, whit- 

 ish body, rounded in form, and presenting, on mi- 

 croscopic examination, a mouth, a stomach, and a 



root-like b:isc. It propagates bo!h by division of 

 iis body into parts, which form an animal as com- 

 plete as itself, and by ejecting eggs from its mouth. 

 The method in which the polypus secretes t he- 

 coral, which, when taken from the sea, is in stalks 

 about a foot high and half an inch thick, is undcr- 

 stood to be as follows: An egg or new animal. 

 when ejected, falls upon some body, to which, from 

 its gelatinous nature, it adheres. On this founda- 

 tion it spreads and moulds itself, till at length from 

 the middle of it a sort of excrescence rises upwards, 

 containing the germ of a new animal, which attains 

 its growth by degrees, and sends up a similar ex- 

 tension. These deposit calcareous or chalky mat- 

 ter in the middle, and by the constant generation 

 of new polypi, and the secretion of additional mat- 

 ter, the coral, at the end of ten years, which is the 

 period necessary for its perfect growth, has at- 

 tained the height and thickness mentioned. It is 

 of various colours red, vermilion, and white, tin- 

 latter being most common, and consequently least 

 valuable. When taken out of the sea, it is covered 

 with moss and marine vegetable matter, and is gen- 

 erally somewhat softer and duller in hue than it ul- 

 timately becomes. 



The coral fisheries form a very considerable trade 

 in several parts of the Mediterranean. From the 

 hollows and caverns of the rocks, where it takes 

 root, the coral is brought up with nets ; it also 

 grows, but in less quantities, on the sides of the 

 ocean crags. The greatest height to which it at- 

 tains is never above a foot, and its usual thickness 

 is about that of the little finger, though often 

 much less. The most extensive fisheries are those 

 carried on in the straits of Messina, off the Sicilian 

 coast, and about three miles distant generally from 

 the land. The fishermen have divided the whole 

 tract, about six miles in length, into ten parts. 

 Every year they fish only in one of these parts, and 

 do not interfere with it again till ten years have 

 elapsed, for the purpose of bringing away only such 

 coral as has attained its full growth. 



The appearance of the coral as it is observed in 

 the sea, is said to resemble a miniature forest, from 

 its great quantity and branching character. The 

 greatest portion is procured from a depth of from 

 sixty to a hundred and twenty-five feet; but some 

 fisheries are carried on to the depth of nine hundred 

 feet. Those on the coasts of Marseilles, Barbary, 

 and Trapani, are the principal rivals to the Sicilian 

 fisheries in the European market, but none of them 

 produce the coral in equal quantities, or of equal 

 quality, with the latter. From Messina 3000 

 pounds are said to be exported annually ; the price 

 of which is so much affected by the colour arid 

 quality, that, while some of it is valued at ten 

 guineas a pound, other portions are considered not 

 worth ten pence. The vermilion-coloured coral, 

 being the rarest, is the most expensive. The com- 

 mon red, however, brings a high price also, when 

 the quality is good. Chemical analysis has proved 

 that the coral consists of carbonate of lime, a spe- 

 cies of chalk, for it dissolves completely in aqua- 

 fortis, or nitric acid. 



Though we may regard with some degree of 

 wonder the production of stalks of coral by a small 

 oyster-like polypus, our astonishment cannot fail 

 to be increased when we consider, that, by an ani- 

 mal of the same size and species as the coraliferous 

 polypus, whole reefs of great extent, and even 

 islands, have been founded and originated. The 

 animal or polypus that accomplishes this is called 



