COR 



907 



Coral 

 Fishery 



Formerly the coral fishery of Marseilles was in a 

 flourishing condition, and the barks belonging to it 

 brought great quantities of coral from the African 

 coast ; but we are not acquainted with its present state. 

 Most of the coral obtained in the Mediterranean is car- 

 ried to Leghorn, and from thence dispersed to other 

 countries. 



Where coral is situated at great depths, the fisher- 

 men cease to search after it, owing to the imperfection 

 of the plant, and the labour of obtaining it. The 

 greatest quantities are recovered from the depth of 60 

 to 12.5 feet; and some fisheries are carried on to the 

 depth of 900 feet. " In the Straits of Messina, the grot- 

 toes productive of coral are situated nearly in the. mid- 

 dle, and at various depths, from 350 feet to 650. 

 The depth increases on advancing towards the mouth 

 of the Strait, where the fishery is no longer prosecu- 

 ted, the rocks, according to the coral fishermen, being 

 there 1 000 feet from the surface." At the depth of 900 

 feet, it is supposed to require 40 years to attain the 

 same size which it would do in 10 years at 60 feet. 



Sometimes, though rarely, the fishennen recover 

 coral, which has another origin than in caverns. Found- 

 ed on an adventitious substance, it springs perpendicu- 

 larly from the bottom of the sea, and in this way the 

 plant is obtained entire. By an invariable law, its 

 growth is perpendicular to the plane of position what- 

 ever that may be; and in Marsigli's opinion, when pro- 

 duced in submarine caverns, it always depends per- 

 pendicularly from above. Branches broke off continue 

 in favourable situations to vegetate, whence, if the root 

 is once secure, the stem rises upwards. But these are 

 considered rare instances, and are rather to be viewed 

 as aberrations from the laws which regulate the pro- 

 duction of coral. The implements of the fishermen 

 are therefore adapted both to withdraw the coral from 

 recesses, and to recover it either when falling down to 

 the bottom of the sea, or when growing there. 



As the coral fishermen cease to search for that sub- 

 stance at very great depths, neither do they frequent 

 shallows ; for it is said that none grows in less than 

 ten or twelve feet of water. By this is probably meant 

 the Gorgonia nobilis, or red coral; for there is reason to 

 believe, that in certain climates other species vegetate 

 until they approach the surface. Whole islands, particu- 

 larly in the East, are said to originate from a base of 

 coral. The animal by which it is formed discontinuing 

 its labours when gaining the surface of the sea, leaves 

 a basis for the accumulation first of earthy and then of 

 vegetable matter, which by gradual accession interrupts 

 the progress of the waves. Hence it has been proposed 

 to guard an open coast by transplanting coral beds for 

 the formation of barriers to the sea : and an instance is 

 quoted of a survey being made on the coast of Sumatra 

 in the year 1 784, when two feet and a half of water 

 was found on a shoal. But four years and seven months 

 afterwards the rudiments of an island ten yards in dia- 

 meter, and bearing a few bushes, was visible on the 

 spot ; thus it is probable we are still unacquainted with 

 the greatest and least depths of the growth of coral ; 

 and as it is solely of animal origin, many observations 

 made in the conviction of its being a vegetable product 

 are to be received with distrust. See Spallanzani Piaggi 

 al/e due Sicilie, torn. v. ; Tournefort / 'oyages, torn. i. 

 p. 17.; Donati Storia liel Mare Adriatico ; Marsigli His- 

 toire Physique de la Mer. (c) 



CORCHORUS, a genus of plants of the class Poly- 

 andria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 235. 



CORCYRA. See Corfu. 



COR 



CORDAGL. See Kopk Making. 



CORDIA, a genus of plants of the class Pentandria, 

 and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 142. 



CORDOVA, the Corduba of the ancients, is a city 

 of Spain in the province of Andalusia. It is delightfully 

 situated on the north bank of the Guadalquivir, which 

 winds round its walls in the form of a crescent, at the 

 entrance of a spacious plain, which is bounded on the 

 north by branches from the mountainous ridges of the 

 Sierra Morena. 



The town, which is nearly of a square form, stretch- 

 ing from east to west, is defended by walls flanked 

 with large towers. It occupies a great space of ground, 

 part of which is covered with gardens and orchards, and 

 its suburbs are sufficiently large to resemble so many se- 

 parate towns. The largest of these is the suburb to the 

 east of the town, where there are a great number of 

 mills erected on the Guadalquivir. The general ap- 

 pearance of the town is gloomy, the streets being nar- 

 row and crooked. The principal square is very spa- 

 cious, and consists of houses regularly built, and having 

 porticoes all round it. The individual houses^ in Cor- 

 dova have, in general, a tolerable appearance/ particu- 

 larly from the fine gardens which are attached to them. 



The principal public buildings at Cordova are the 

 cathedral; 15 parish churches; 40 convents for both 

 sexes ; the episcopal and the royal palace, two colleges, 

 and 21 hospitals. 



The cathedral, which is an old mosque, retaining its 

 original name of Mezquita, was built in the year 170 of 

 the Hegira, on the site of the old Gothic cathedral, 

 which also stood upon the site of the temple of Janus. 

 It is an insulated building of enormous magnitude, con- 

 spicuously situated at the meeting of four elegant streets. 

 Its length is 534 feet, and its width 387^ feet. Bour- 

 goanne makes its length 620, and its breadth 440 feet. 

 The stones of which the walls are built are 3^ feet long, 

 1 foot 9 inches wide, and 6 feet 10 inches thick, and 

 the walls are of different heights, in consequence of the 

 inequality of the ground, which is 30 feet high on three 

 sides, and about 12 on the south side. The north front 

 is covered with exquisite stucco ornaments, and before 

 the door are six beautiful jasper columns, 4 feet 9 inch- 

 es high. An elegant tower 51 feet 8 inches wide on 

 each face, rises on one side, and its 1 4 windows are 

 adorned with columns of black and red marble. The 

 tower terminates in a number of small arches, like fes- 

 toons, supported by similar columns, which, with 

 those of the windows, amount to 100. Before the en- 

 trance of the temple is a space 1 80 feet long, surround- 

 ed on three sides with a handsome portico, supported 

 by 72 columns. Below it is a capacious arched cistern, 

 which is sustained by columns, and from the cypress, 

 orange, citron and palm trees, with which the area is 

 planted, and the jet' d'eaus which are continually playing, 

 it resembles a garden in the air. There are 1 7 doors 

 in the cathedral covered with curiously wrought bronze 

 plates, but only five of these are used. 



Opening into this area, and running from north to 

 south, are 19 large aisles 350 feet long and 14 broad, ha- 

 ving then ceilings of fragrant woods, and there are 17 

 smaller ones crossing from east to west. They are di- 

 vided by rows of columns to the number of 850, which, 

 with those of the tower and portico, make 1018,— an 

 assemblage of columns which is perhaps unexampled 

 in the world. These pillars, which are principally of 

 the finest marble, vary from seven to el-even feet three 

 inches in height, and have,- in general, Corinthian capi- 

 tals. 



Cordage 



II 

 Cordova. 



