LECTURE Xri. 
207 
Corals is called Gorgonia or Gorgon. It contains 
a great many species, which differ greatly from 
each other in a,ppearance, some being of a flat- 
tened and fan-shaped form; others rounded, and 
branched in the manner of trees. Of the fan- 
shaped gorgoniae the species called the G. Flabel- 
Iiim Veneris, or Venus’s Fan, is one of the most 
elegant. It is chiefly found on the rocks of the 
Indian and American seas, and grows to the 
height of two or three feet ; its branches are so 
disposed as to resemble a kind of irregular net- 
w^ork, and it is often seen in a proliferous state, 
many younger specimens branching out from the 
chief or principal one. Its colour is either purple 
or yellow, and sometimes intermixed. The stem 
or bone, when the soft part in which the polypes 
are placed is rubbed off, is of a horny substance, 
and of a blackish colour. But 'the species which 
of all others is most esteemed on account of the 
beauty of its colour, and the durability of its sub- 
stance, is the common red Coral, which is the Gor- 
goniap retiosa of modern naturalists. Red Coral is 
a native both of the European and Indian seas ; 
adhering to rocks, and growing in an inverted po- 
sition. When recent, it is covered with a soft 
