THE EUROPEAN SEAS. 



139 



laria palmata, of the Lusitanian zone and Medi- 

 terranean, is also found in the Red Sea. Isis, with 

 its flexible horny axis and calcareous nodes, belongs 

 chiefly to Eastern seas ; one species, /. elongata, an 

 Indian Ocean species, was, however, met with by Phi- 

 lippi in the Sicilian waters. The Red Coral (Coral- 

 Mum rubrum), though apparently not confined to the 

 Mediterranean (for Ehrenberg met with it in the 

 Eed Sea), is in a high degree characteristic of it, 

 from its great abundance ; yet it is not equally dis- 

 tributed there. In the iEgean it occurs sparingly, 

 and only as small specimens ; it grows largest and 

 most abundantly in the Sicilian seas, in the gulf 

 of Genoa, about Corsica and the other western 

 Mediterranean islands, as also on the Spanish coast. 



The African Coral, though abundant and of large 

 size, is neither so compact, nor is its colour as bright, 

 as that of France or Italy. It will be thus seen 

 that the Red Coral has a Western Mediterranean 

 distribution. These polyp-structures are of slow 

 growth ; as much as ten years, it is said, are required 

 ere Coral-ground which has been dredged over, is 

 again productive. Perfect specimens, forming minia- 

 ture trees, may sometimes be seen from Sicilian 

 seas a foot and a half in height. If the Red Coral 

 occurs beyond the Mediterranean in the Lusi- 

 tanian Atlantic zone, it must do so much more 

 sparingly; it was not met with by any of the natu- 

 ralists who have explored the Canaries. 



