VARIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OF CORAL. 105 



sons of the Oriental chiefs are studded with this beautiful 

 ornament. 



Red coral is also found in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, 

 Messina, the Dardanelles, and a few other places. The 

 French and the Sicilians are the only people who make coral- 

 fishing a regular source of interest. As the precious sub- 

 stance requires eight or ten years to come to any perfection 

 by the labors of its industrious architects, the spots 

 where it is finished are divided each into ten portions, and 

 only one of these is finished in the year, so that each may 

 remain to "grow" during the time necessary to bring it to 

 maturity. 



Black Coral is most esteemed, but it is scarce : the red, 

 white, and yellow are chiefly used for ornamental purposes. 

 The Pink Coral is esteemed for its scarcity. 



The ingenuity of man continually exerted to imitate na- 

 ture, and frequently with great success, is practised in the 

 fabrication of" false coral, made with powdered marble and 

 fish-glue, and colored with vermilion and red lead. 



Coral beads were anciently worn in India, as sacred amu- 

 lets or charms. The Romans tied little branches round chil- 

 dren's necks to keep off the influence of the "evil eye," a 

 superstition which had also many believers in the middle 

 ages among the inhabitants of England, and which still exists 

 in some foreign countries. 



Coral was said to preserve houses from the efl'ects of 

 thunder storms, and to be of much finer color when worn by 

 men than by women. Even at the present time there are 

 people so credulous as to believe that coral necklaces be- 

 come pale Avhen the wearer is about to be ill. There is no 

 doubt that coral loses its color by time and exposure, and 

 this may have given rise to the superstition. The small 

 pointed branches, mounted with a ring at one end for sus- 

 pension, are extensively manufactured at Naples as " charms ;" 

 and Ferdinand I., King of that country, was a devout be- 



