breastpins,
and brooches, are prepared therefrom for personal adornment, with this
salutary view, and. are for disposal to tourists who visit the Island.
CORALS.
Corals, though
beyond the actual pale of Precious Stones, are nevertheless to be in
some sort regarded as' jewelry. Scientifically they are " calcareous
aggregated skeletons of defunct coralligenous zoophytes."
Each
single polype has inhabited one of the diminutive cells which are now
massed together on a common earthy base. By continued growth, and
aggregation, great banks of Coral become formed, which are known as
Coral reefs. " These are confined to seas in which the temperature of
the water during the winter does not sink, on an average, to below 68°
or 66° Fahr."
The
most important Coral fisheries extend along the coasts of Tunis,
Algeria, and Morocco. Red Coral is also obtained in the vicinity of
Naples, and on the coasts of Corsica, Catalonia, and Provence. A
condition very essential to the welfare of living Coral polypes is an
abundant supply of pure, and properly aerated sea-water. The Red, or
Precious Coral (Corallium rubrum) is, and has been from remote
times, very highly prized for jewelry, personal adornment, and for
decorative purposes. Furthermore, it exercises distinct, and very
beneficial medicinal properties. Of old, too, it was highly esteemed in
India as a substance endowed with occult sacred virtues.
The
Gauls, as Pliny relates, were in the habit of using coloured Coral for
ornamenting their weapons of war, and their helmets. Among the Romans
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