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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bronwen, post: 906952, member: 5833&quot;]Bluumz has already posted the link for my more complete explanation.&nbsp; To summarize here, although it is called Byne&#039;s Disease, it is an oxidative process, like rust.&nbsp; Rust afflicts iron; Byne&#039;s is the oxidation &amp; corrosion of materials based on calcium carbonate.&nbsp; When kept enclosed in material that provides one of the right components to mix with atmospheric humidity to form an acid, the calcium carbonate leaches out as a salt.&nbsp; This incrustation washes off easily, but permanent superficial damage is done.&nbsp; Cardboard, probably even more so antique cardboard, is a prime source for an acid-making chemical.</p><p><br /></p><p>I had not personally encountered the occurrence of Byne&#039;s under Ariadne&#039;s set of conditions, but it is clearly a hazard &amp; think I&#039;ll add something about it to the article on Cameo Times.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Coral is also calcium carbonate based, so should be vulnerable to Byne&#039;s, however, I really don&#039;t see it. Conch shell doesn&#039;t seem particularly vulnerable either.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dryness was mentioned by kyratango.&nbsp; Red coral is often dyed to deepen or even out the color, and dye can get washed out, but the reason it needs to be dyed is that it is not in the nature of Mediterranean red coral to be the same color in large continuous areas.&nbsp; So called red coral can be anywhere from white deep red; &#039;angel skin&#039; coral is just pale red coral.</p><p><br /></p><p>A helmet shell is produced by a single organism with a single set of genes.&nbsp; Coral is a colony of minute individuals, each with its own set of genes.&nbsp; A polyp may not have the same color genes as its neighbor.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is not the greatest example of photo, best I could find quickly.&nbsp; The white centers of 2 of the roses at the top are natural, not damage or loss of dye:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]200595[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This next piece does not belong to me, so I don&#039;t know the truth about it.&nbsp; On the back, you can see the growth lines as different shades:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]200596[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The crusty looking white in the crevices of the front could be Byne&#039;s, could be other accumulated crud:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]200597[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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