Date: 1837
The machinery employed for tearing the coral from the bottom of the sea consists first of all of two beams crossed and tightly fixed at right angles to each other, with a leaden weight to press them down ; to these beams they fasten a great quantity of hemp loosely twisted, among which they mix strong nets.  When the machine has been let down into the sea, and the coral is thought sufficiently * I have since found that it is an article by M. de Blain ville, in a recently published Philosophical Dictionary.  LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH.