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CORALLIUM.
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103
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In Pliny's alphabetical list of gems (56) occurs the Corallis, produced
in India and Syene, and resembling vermilion in colour. This is an
exact description of the antique Eed Jasper, which certainly does not
appear amongst any of the numerous varieties of the Jaspis, properly so
called, described by him.
Fliny seems to have read the passage of Orpheus above quoted, for he has, under Gorgonia, "
This stone is nothing more than Coral, the reason for the name being
because it is transfoimed (from a soft plant) into the hardness of a
stone. It appeases the angry seas ; it is affirmed that it defends
against thunderbolts and whirlwinds."
The
same perverted taste that has in these days made rose-coloured Pearls
far more valuable than those of the colour proper to the species, has
pronounced that the same faint tint in Coral "is the only wear," and
consequently the deep-crimson, hitherto the most esteemed, as sense
dictates, has become a mere drug in the market. The pale pink, of the
shade of the opening rose, has obtained, on the other hand, a value
never dreamed of before in respect of this article. A parure in it at
the Dublin Exhibition (1865) was priced at 1000l. Yet in most
cases this precious tinge is artificial, obtained by baking the common
sort until its red is blanched down to the required tone.
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