The berries of coral are no less esteemed by the men in India than are the pearls of that country by the ladies among us; their soothsayers, too, and diviners look upon coral as an amulet endowed with sacred properties, and a sure preservative against all dangers: hence it is that they equally value it as an ornament and as an object of devotion. Before it was known in what estimation coral was held by the people of India, the Gauls were in the habit of adorning their swords, shields, and helmets with it; but at the present day, owing to the value set upon it as an article of exportation, it has become so extremely rare, that it is seldom to be seen even in the regions that produce it. Branches of coral, hung at the neck of infants, are thought to act as a preservative against danger. Calcined, pulverized, and taken in wine, or, if there are symptoms of fever, in water, it acts as a soporific. It resists the action of fire a considerable time before it is calcined. CHAPTER XXI. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF OYSTERS. The palm has been awarded to oysters at our tables as a most exquisite dish. Oysters love fresh water and spots where numerous rivers discharge themselves into the sea. Generally speaking, they increase in size with the increase of the moon, but it is at the beginning of summer, more particularly, and when the rays of the sun penetrate the shallow waters, that they are swollen with an abundance of milk.[158] Oysters are of various colors; in Spain they are red, in Illyricum of a tawny hue, and at Circeii black, both in meat and shell. But in every country, those oysters are the most highly esteemed that are compact without being slimy from their secretions, and are remarkable more for their thickness than their breadth. They should never be taken in either muddy or sandy spots, but from a firm, hard bottom; the meat should be compressed, and not of a fleshy consistence; and the oyster should be free from fringed edges, and lying wholly in the cavity of the shell. Persons of experience in these matters add another characteristic; a fine purple thread, they say, should run round the margins of the beard, this being looked upon as a sign of superior quality, and obtaining for them their name of “calliblephara.”[159]