opinion countenanc'd by all those that rank Coral amongst the number of plants."
Again,
Dr. John Schroder (1660) has written : ".Coral is a shrub, growing
under the sea-water." He adds, as to its " Vertues." " All Coral dryes,
cools, binds ; strengthens the heart chiefly, then the stomach, and
liver ; purines the blood ; makes men merry, (but the Black Coral makes
them melancholy) ; it stops all fluxes of the belly, and womb ; it
prevents epilepsies in children, if you give ten grains to a new-born
child (before it takes anything else) in the mother's milk ; it is
outwardly good against ulcers, and fills them with flesh ; it helps to
extenuate scars, to stop weeping eyes, and to refresh the sight, put
into collyria. The dose to give is from twenty grains to one drachm.
The tincture of coral is of great force as against convulsions."
The
solid, compact part of the animal Coral, or polydom, in the case of Bed
Coral, is mainly carbonate of lime, with small quantities of carbonate
of magnesium, oxide of iron, and organic matters ; the exact nature of
the red colouring matter remaining unknown. The insects, polypes, which
produce Coral, resemble eight-pointed stars, notched on each point,
with a mouth in the centre. The earthy skeleton further contains
fluorides of calcium, and magnesium, phosphate of lime, alumina, and a
small quantity of silica.
Among
the ancient Greeks Coral was thought to " baffle witchcraft,"
counteract poisons, protect from tempests, and robbers, and, mixed in
powder with seed-corn, (rather a costly agricultural agent!) to secure
growing crops from thunderstorms, blight, caterpillars, and locusts.
One of the Greek names for Coral was Gorgeia, from
