16 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



to the tomb, the demand is constant. In our own country coral 

 beads and other personal ornaments are common. Between 

 1860 and 1870 Simmonds mentions that £300,000 worth of coral 

 was received in Britain. Very costly articles of jewellery, 

 indeed, may be formed from it, a single set occasionally reaching 

 £1000. A fine piece (8 in. long), exquisitely carved and form- 

 ing the handle of a parasol, was valued at £70 (Simmonds). 



The antiquity of the coral fishery, the comparative freedom 

 in regard to working, and the exhaustion of certain banks, have 

 led to suggestions for restriction — for instance, to make a close 

 season during the development of the eggs — but as this period 

 stretches from April to September, and even later, the very 

 season when the fishery can best be carried on, the suggestion, 

 as already indicated, is impracticable. 



The fact that small quantities are procured from a bank that 

 has been persistently fished for some time, whereas numerous 

 and fine specimens occur on a new bank, or one that has had a 

 long rest, point to the propriety of intermitting the work. This 

 was further exemplified after the four years' rest of the Egyptian 

 campaign. Lacaze Duthiers thus advised that the Algerian 

 region should be divided into five areas, each of which should be 

 fished in succession, after a four years' rest, so that this sugges- 

 tion as applied to the food- fishes of the North Sea is not new. 

 The conditions, however, of the two groups, viz. coral and food- 

 fishes, widely diverge. The Algerian reefs, indeed, were divided 

 into ten portions, only one of which was fished annually, ten 

 years being considered sufficient for the growth of large pieces 

 of coral. 



Of important banks in recent times, that of Sciacca (near 

 Sicily) may be mentioned. This was discovered in the middle 

 of May, 1875, and large supplies attached to groups of bivalve 

 shells or pieces of dead coral, chiefly of red or black coral, were 

 obtained. Thus a boat with eight men collected from thirty to 

 forty pounds a day, and it sold at eleven shillings per pound less 

 five per cent, tare, so that each boat had a daily gain of about 

 £20. By the middle of July the coral sold at only seven shillings 

 per pound and eight per cent, tare, and towards the end of the 

 month considerably less. It was estimated by Simmonds that 

 from June 1st to August 31st, 1875, the quantity of coral sold 



