126 THE HALL OF SHELLS. 



nets swung from their shoulders in which they 

 had deposited the coral. 



" The bulk of coral used for ornamentation 

 is fished from the Mediterranean Sea, and some- 

 times at a depth of seven or eight hundred 

 f,eet. 



" The red is susceptible of a fine polish, and 

 is much sought after by many Eastern nations 

 for personal adornment, for sword hilts, for 

 amulets, which, are superstitiously believed to 

 have power to avert evil. The name given it 

 by the Greeks commemorated their belief that 

 it was originally the blood drops that fell 

 upon the seashore from the head of Medusa, 

 hardened and planted in the sea by ocean 

 nymphs. 



" Formerly the red commanded the highest 

 price of all the corals, but this point has been 

 yielded to the delicate pink, which vies in 

 color with the tinted petals of the queen of 

 flowers. 



"Besides the red, pink, and white coral, 

 there are many shades of green, brown, yellow, 

 and black. All are more or less beautiful, both 

 in life and in death. 



"The flowerlike inhabitants have disap- 

 peared, but their workmanship remains in these 

 exquisite marbles before you, Tom," continued 



