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Show Tbe Hi}lory ()/ P L A N 'r S. under this name : the madreporre of feveral kinds, in particular, are-pretty currentiy called white Coral, and fold for it in the !hops. 3· Corallum nigrum. Black Coral. 'the generai praaice of receiving the madreporre into the {hops under the name of white Coral and of receiving alfo the ceratophyta under the name of black Coral, has taught many people to belie~e that there was not, in reality, any fuch . thin~ as ei~her white Coral or black Coral m the world ; but people who have exammed mto thmgs more deeply find it otherwife: b~ack Coral is inde_ed . too fcarce, an.d too mu_ch out of ufe in medicine, to be expected m the {hops at this time; but fpecHnens of 1t _are frequent in the cabinets in Italy and Germany, and tolerably handfome plants of It are at times drawn up among the red. . . . The genuine black Coral grows to rocks, and other fohd bodies, by a broad and th1ck bafe; from this it rifes up ufually in a fingle ftem, of the thicknefs of a man's finger; this runs up fingle for three inches, or thereabout, and then fends off a branch, and ufually three or four more, at different difi:ances, higher up : ~hefe do not ~ften fend out other branches, but run fingle their whole length, wh1ch 1s oft~n two mche~, or tnore. The whole furface of tliis Coral is naturally frriated, but this IS ufually poli01ed off before it is offered to fale. It is as heavy and as hard as the red Coral, and is of a fin~ !hining black colour. When broken it appear~ of as compact a text~rc as the red. It is fometimes dragged up on the coafis of the Mediterranean; we fometm1es alfo meet with fragments of it among the fea plants fent over for fale. Ray tells us he oft7n ~et with it among the Italian naturalifi:s; and the king of Pruffia, we ar~ told, at th1s tu~e has a fine fhrub of it : Boerhaave alfo gives us an account of a fpec1men he had of It, which is frill at Leyden. 4. Coral!tt?n album geniculatum. Geniculated white Coral. This rifes from a broad ·and irregular bafe, confiderably thick, and of a white colour. The fi:em is ufually fingle at the bafe, and divides afterwards into feveral branches : the main fialk is ufually of the thicknefs of a man's thumb, or more, and the height of the whole plant not lefs than a foot and a half: Its branches are compofed of oblong fegments, or joints, half an inch or more in length, fo that they reprefent the flock of the common horfe-tail. The whole plant is of a yellowifh-white colour, firi ated on the furface, and of a tolerably folid texture, between that of the madreporre and that of the common white Coral. This is found on the lhores of the Eafi: Indies. Boerhaave calls it Corallium album geniculatum ; and Clufius, Hippuris faxea. The Corals are fo much al ike 'in their growth, that the other fpecies, after the defcriptions of thefe, will eafily be known by their names. They are, I. The lit tle, white Coral, brittle and ramofe. 2. The thin, branched, brachiated, white Coral. 3· The brownilh-grey Coral of Spain, 4· The thin, brittle, tufted, white Coral. 5· The {lender, very-much branched, little Coral. 6. The white, digitated, flatbranched Coral. 7· The great yellowilh Coral. 8. The great, white, ramofe Coral, with red tops. 9• The brittle, very ramofe, yellowifh Coral. I o, The little, moify, brittle, white Coral, growing in thick tufts. I 1. The little, genicul ated, white Coral, with white, multifid tops. I 2. The white, capillaceous, geniculated Coral, with branched tops. 13· The capillaceous, pale-red, geniculated Coral, with branched tops. 14. The red, geniculated Coral, with capillaceous branches and ramofe tops. The four laO: are very fmalJ, but very beautiful Corals. Authors have defc ribed many more fpecies under the name of Corals, as the fiellate and oculated Corals, fo called from the figures of fiars and eyes on their furtaces; but thefe are properly madreporre, and have been already defcribed under that genus. S U B M A R I N E S. The H;jlorj of P L A N 't S~· S U B M A R I N E S. Clafs the Fir )J. Genus the N inth. C 0 R ALLIN A. C 0 R ALLIN A is a genus of Submarines, confi fi:ing of il:alks and branchesi often beautifully ramified, and compofed of joints of an oblong figure, inferted into one another. The greater part of thefe are gritty, and of a Coral-like matter, but nature varies from this in feme of the fpecies, which are of a fofter fubfrance. I . Coral/ina figmentis longioribus. Coralline witb long figments. T his is a bulhy plant, much divided in it's branches, and ufually growing irt great clull:ers together. It rifes to two or three inches in height, and often extehds to as much in diameter in the whole clufl:er. The main ftalk is of the thicknefs of a flnall packthread, and is compofed of a multitude of joints or fegments, which are twice as long as they are thick, and are all regularly fig~red , being thicker at one end, and fmaller at the other : the fmaller end grows downwards, and is inferted into the larger end of the joint below ; fo that the whole plant confifis as it were, of a ft:ries of cups, with narrow mouths, and narrower bottoms, inferted into one another. There grow many branches from the main frock, and thefe are fometimes ramified again, but th yare always lhort. The whole plant is fometimes of a white, fometimes of a greyilh, and feme!. times of a greenifh, reddia1, or yellowitb colour. It confifis of a gritty matter, and is eafily rubbed to powder : it's tafie is very naufeous. It grows to ftones, lhclls, and all other folid fubfrances, under water, and ufually in thick tufts, or clufiers. Cc:cfalpinus fays it is fofr, while in the water, and grows frony on being expofed to lhe air; but he errs in this. It is common about our own co::lil:s. Authors have called it Corallina Anglica, and Corallina officiriarum . It has been long c~l ebrated for its virtue againfl: worms, and is given, from ten grains to two fcruples for a dofe, with very good fuccefs. 2 . Coral/ina pennata denticulata. The pennated and denticulated Coralline. This is a very beautiful and regular little plant. I t grows to the height of two or three inches, and it 's utmofi breadth is about three quarters of an inch. It rifes with a finglc frem or fb lk, which continues undivided to the top, and from which there jfrne a number of branches, difpofed in a very regular order: they are lingle, and the longc::l1: are fomewhat more thap a third of an inch long ; thefe are in the middle of the plant, ::\nd fi·om this they are gradually {horter to the bottom, an'd to the top they are placed in the fune plane oppofi te to one another, or nearly fo, fo that the whole plant has much the appearance of fome of the pennated leaves. The main fialk and the branches are all of the fan'l.e ilructure, compofed of {hurt j oin ts, and thofc difpofed in fuch a rpan ner, that tl1e branches appear den ticulated. T he whole plant is very rigid, and of a pale- brown colour. It grows from a fmall, flat bafe, and ufually fingle. It is frequent about onr own coafl:s, growing on fmall fron es, and often on oyfl:er-lhells. Autho;s ha~e fuppofed it to refcmble tbe fi r-tree in it's regular growth, and have thence called It Ab1es marina Belgica. Tournefort calls it Corallina marina abietis forma.; and C. Bauhine, Mufcus marinus filicis folio. 3· Coral/ina ramulis f alcatis. The falcated C?ralline. . This i.s an extreamly elegant little plant : it rifes to four or five inches height, but a's fialk IS fo weak rhat it is fcarce able to fup port itfelf,erect at that height. It ufually growg Cingle, and is branched from top to bottom. The main fl:alk fends out a branch or two very half inch, or at nearer difl:ances ; and thefe ramify into a multitude of other~, which are all much of the fame length, and all of them bend at their ends in fuch |