Q1 NATURAL HISTORY. 



halcyon's nest was said to be in the sea ; and, when the fishermen hauled 

 up the branching stalk of one of the corals, they said that this was the 



tree in which its nest was placed. The name stuck, and 

 in the zoologies of to-day the same coral still bears the 

 name Alcyonium, from which it has been extended in the 

 modified form used above to the whole group. Our plate 

 shows the general appearance of this form, which, from 

 its texture when dried, has received the common name of 



cork polyp. 



The Alcyonids are not of much importance in the for- 

 mation of coral reefs, for the reason that they form but 

 ^ly^Tf^ed'cSai little solid matter, and this never in the massive condition 

 Icoraiiium). which prevailg in the Actinarian group. Still one species 



has a considerable economic importance, since it furnishes the red coral 

 so prized in jewelry. The red coral is a native of the Mediterranean 

 Sea, and in some places the fishery for it constitutes a considerable in- 

 dustry. This is especially true of the western coast of Italy, the islands 

 of Sicily and Sardinia, and the coasts of Tunis and Algiers. It is a slow- 

 growing form, and branches over a foot in length are uncommon. The 

 fishery is conducted by lowering large, coarse nets to the bottom, in the 

 meshes of which the coral becomes entangled, and is then drawn to the 

 surface. The animal portions are then allowed to decay, and the hardened 

 axis is sent to the market. Naples is the great seat of the coral trade, and 

 annually consumes many hundred pounds. The value differs according to 

 the size of the fragments, but even more in the color and the freedom 

 from faults and blemishes. The pink varieties command a much higher 

 price than the darker red. 



The sea-fans (Gorgonids) are very characteristic forms in the warmer 

 seas, and many species have been described. Many of them assume a 

 flattened, fan-like shape, formed by numerous interlacing branches. The 

 outside of all the branches is covered by a soft, easily broken " bark ' 

 placed upon a harder, horny axis. In the bark are numerous spicules, the 

 delight of the amateur microscopist. To obtain them, the bark is scaled 

 off and boiled in caustic potash, which dissolves all but the spicules. Color 

 in the sea-fan is of but slight importance, for the same species may be red, 

 yellow, or purple. Allied to the sea-fans are the sea-whips, which consist 

 of a long, slender, unbranched stalk, often several feet in length. In the 

 old days of the East India trade the sea-captains of Salem, Newburyport, 

 and Newport brought the black, horny axes of these sea-whips home, and 

 used them for canes. 



The organ-pipe coral, a native of the Eastern seas, is a peculiar form, 



