i8 



SEA-ANEMONES AND CORALS. 



No. 1.4 



mals were growing in the sea, waving their branches 



to and fro, like an ocean shrub- 

 bery, you would suppose they 

 were gigantic but exquisite sea- 

 weeds, rather than living beings. 

 On these branches are crowded 

 thousands of these little creat- 

 ures, living a common life, and 

 building up coral groves under 

 the water. Here you have a little 

 picture of one commonly called 

 the Sea- Fan (No. 15),* which 

 when living is particularly beauti- 

 tul, on account of its ornamented tentacles. They not 

 only form a fringe around the summit of the animal, but 

 they are themselves fringed, or lobed, along their edges 

 The woodcut represents only a small branch, but they 



grow to the height of several 

 feet. Among the branching 

 Corals, there is one kind, the so- 

 called Finger Coral (No. i6),t 

 which differs from the others in 

 having a somewhat larger animal 

 on the top of each branch, with 

 smaller ones all around the stem 

 and branches. The larger ones 

 represent, as it were, the patri- 

 irchal heads of the family, occu- 

 pying the seat of honor at the 

 summit of every branch, while 

 the little ones $row around and 

 below them. 



No. 15. 



* No. T ^ : Gorgonia. 



t No. 16: Madrefiora. 



