64 THE UNIVERSE. 



The affair made a great stir, and it became necessary, 

 nolens volens, to unravel it. As soon as it was cleared up, 

 the conclusion universally arrived at was that it was the 

 simple country physician who had been right, and the 

 Academy that had been wrong. The coral flowers turned 

 out to be only Polypi, and the stony shrub a place of abode 

 for them, sculptured and fashioned by the tiny animals. 



Such are the facts as regards the nature of coral. Let us 

 revert to the second error which tarnishes its history. 



It was difficult, when the erroneous view with regard to 

 coral was held, to understand how so hard a body could be 

 merely vegetable tissue. The fishermen, following the an- 

 cient tradition, explained the matter with perfect satisfac- 

 tion to themselves, and all the world gave credence to what 

 they said. They maintained that this marine shrub, so 

 long as it is under water, is not harder than analogous 

 terrestrial plants, but that it hardens suddenly when 

 brought in contact with the air. This strange opinion was 

 deeply rooted among the common people, and ranked 

 among the best established facts. 



However, M. Nicolai, inspector of fisheries, determined to 

 verify the affair for himself. 



He made one of his coral-fishers dive and see what was 

 really the consistence of the coral ; the man brought back 

 word that it was as hard in the sea as in the air. But such 

 is the power of prejudice that M. Nicolai only half believed 

 his servant, and finally decided to dive also, and satisfy him- 

 self as to the facts. He did so, and found out that coral is 

 really just as hard in the midst of the waves as on land. 



Thus for two thousand years men continued to doubt and 

 speculate before determining the true nature of coral. 



