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CORALLIUM.
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101
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Amber
being the sole ornament known to them in the way of jewels) ; but when
Pliny wrote, the demand for it in India had become so great, that it
was rarely to be seen in its native country, all that was in the least
degree saleable being exported to the East ; a notice this, by the way,
that gives an insight into the vast commerce and the facility of
communication existing at that time between Europe and India. Coral was
as much sought after by the Indians as pearls were by the Romans, and
fetched as high a price ; the value of such things, as Pliny sagely
remarks, being altogether arbitrary (ista, persuasione gentium
constant). The beads (baccae) were as highly prized by the men of the
Indians, as the Indian pearls by the Roman ladies. They were worn as a
specially sacred amulet, as well as for ornament by their " prophets
and diviners (Brahmins) ; so that they delight in them both for their
beauty and their supernatural virtues."
Every
observation of Pliny's respecting the then trade with India is borne
out by modern experience, Tavernier remarking that Coral was by far the
most profitable article that could be taken out to that country. At
present a sphere, sound, good-coloured, and weighing an ounce, will
command a higher price than any precious stone, either in China or
Japan, being in great demand for the apex to the mandarin's cap of
office.
The
Romans seem to have employed Coral merely as an amulet and in medicine
: the little branches were tied round children's necks to keep off the
Evil Eye ; and, powdered after calcination, it was taken in water for
the stone and colic. Being of a cooling and astringent quality, it was
an ingredient in salves for obstinate ulcers, for removing scars, and
for complaints of the eyes. But Orpheus (570), who poetically fables it
to have originated when the newly-severed Gorgon's head was laid down
by Perseus on the
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