C 4+S ] 
of the natural hiftory of the fea. Our author found the 
means of overcoming thefe obftacles : the voyages 
which he made to the American iflands, to St. Do- 
mingo, to Miflifiippi, to Egypt, and elfewhere, have 
accuftomed him to the fatigues of the fea ; and the 
frequent opportunities of embarking himfelf with the 
coral-fifliers and others were very favourable to his 
purpofe, and contributed to the difcoveries, which he 
made upon this fubjeCt, and which he verified and 
enlarged, when in Barbary by the king’s orders. As 
coral, next to pearls and ambergrife, was the moil 
precious marine production, it was not to be wonder’d 
•at, that our author firft turned his thoughts to the 
inveftigation of its hiftory. 
The firft chapter therefore of the work before 11s 
contains the opinions of the antients concerning co- 
ral, and the obfervations made thereupon fince their 
time; among which are the opinions of Peirefkius, 
Boyle, Pifo, Boccone, Venette, the Comte de Mar- 
figli, and thofe of M. de PeyfTonnel. 
In the fecond chapter is an - examination, whether 
coral is a plant, or a congelation ; in which are in- 
cluded two extracts, one from M. Tournefort’s ele- 
ments of botany, and the other from the memoirs of 
the Royal Academy of Sciences. 
The third chapter exhibits new obfervations, from 
which are dilcovered the urtica marina & Purpura , 
which form coral ; wherein likewife are explained 
the formation and mechanifm of this marine pro- 
duction. 
In the fourth chapter we find new chemical ob- 
fervations upon the diftillation of coral, which tend 
to prove, that coral is the production of infeCts. 
In 
