CHAPTER IX. 

 THE CORAL ARCHITECT. 



At one time or another most people have seen 

 a piece of coral, either in the form of a child's 

 pretty plaything, or a girl's trinket, or as an attrac- 

 tive curiosity in a museum. From remote times 

 coral has been valued as bracelets, chains, and 

 brooches, as a personal ornament, or for decorative 

 purposes- In bygone ages it was regarded as en- 

 dowed with certain mystic and sacred properties, 

 and for this reason became exceedingly popular with 

 many classes as a potent charm against evil spirits, 

 and accidents, serious illnesses, or misfortunes of 

 any kind. The Romans, it is recorded, used to 

 hang beads of red coral on the cradles and round 

 the necks of infants to "preserve and fasten their 

 teeth," and also to save them from the "falling 

 sickness." In China, a special kind of coral always 

 commands a high price, because this is in great 

 demand for buttons of office worn by mandarins. 

 There, too, coral is powdered and used as a medicine 

 and also as a cure for inflammation of the eye. 



Coral is, after pearls, the handsomest and most 

 valuable of all the products obtained from the sea. 



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