GORGON I A

(Lat.), n. f. Gosr-gon(go an)'ia-a. Fr., gorgone. 1. Of the ancients, coral. [A, 318.] 2. A genus of the Qargoniaceoe, Gorgon ace a, Gorgoniadce, or OorffontOCt, which are a family of coral polyps of the Actinozoa, order Alcyonaria, the fixed colonies of which po e a horny or calcareous, tree-like, branched axial skeleton, surrounded either by a friable crust or by a softer parenchyma containing calcareous particles. [L, 363 (a, 27).] G. a i i tip at hes. Fr., coralline noire. Syn.: coranium nigrum. See Black CORAL.- G. iii<runt an, G. pretiosa. See Red CORAL. [s. 224]