CORALS AND CORAL MAKERS. 



27 



An enlarged view of one of the tentacles is given below. 

 They are very small, compared with the size of the polyp ; 

 and this is true of all the living Fungiae studied by the author. 

 It is plain that the ])ovver of such tentacles must reside wholly 

 in their lasso-cells. 



TENTACLE OF FUNGIA LACERA. 



The tentacles are scattered over the disk, instead of being 

 in regular circles. It is evident from the figure that the ap- 

 parent circles, where there is more than one, in Actiniae, arise 

 from the crowding of the series of tentacles together ; and 

 also that the inner row of tentacles in polyps is the older. 

 It will be noticed also that each of the tentacles stands 

 where a new ridge (or calcareous septum in the coral) begins. 



The Fungi?e, unlike most corals, are not fixed animals 

 except in the young state. They are common in coral-reef 

 seas, lying over the sandy or rocky bottom between the other 

 corals. 



Other varieties of corals and coral animals are illustrated 

 in the figures on the following pages. They represent compound 

 gj'oups, in which great numbers of polyps are connected in a 

 single zoophyte — a result, in part, of the process of budding 

 already alluded to, and partly of different modes of growth 

 connected therewith. 



This budding is very similar to the budding process in 

 vegetation. One common method is the same that is occa- 



