6 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. 



or flesh-pink. No. 26, towards the right-hand base, depicts one of the labyrinthine, coarsely- 

 toothed Mussas, the deep sunk valleys of which, in life, are usually bright myrtle-green ; the 

 intervening spinous ridges are a rich golden-brown. Typical illustrations of the life-colours of 

 this genus are included in Plate V. of the chromo-lithographic series. Mushroom-corals, genus 

 Fungia, with its elongated affinity Herpetolitha, are represented by Nos. 22, 27, and 29. None 

 of these bleached specimens are characterised, in life, by brilliant coloration : in most instances 

 they are of a liijjht brownish hue. An allied form, however, Fiingia crassitcntacnlata, illustrated 

 in the Phototype plates XXIII. and XXIV., and also in Plate VI. of the chromographic series, is 

 conspicuous for the brilliant hues of its living tissues. Galaxca Esperi, No. 13, occupying a 

 sub-central position, is characterised by a corallum which, in its dried condition, may be aptly 

 compared with one of those wonder-raising products of the confectioner's skill which bristle 

 with bleached almonds. Some idea of the aspect of the living coralla of the members of this 

 generic group may be gained by a reference to No. IV. of the coloured plates, in which the 

 dominant hues of the component polyps are typically illustrated. 



Among the more conspicuously tinted corals of this selected group, reference may be 

 made to Nos. 8, 14, 16, 17, 19, and 28, representing the genera Seriatopora, Stylopora, and 

 Pocillopora. The living coralla and associated polyps of the first two genera, in particular, 

 usually vary in colour from the most delicate pale pink to brilliant rose, while in the third type, 

 Pocillopora, a pale lilac or purplish hue prevails Typical illustrations of the corals and polyps 

 of these several generic forms are included in Plate VII. of the coloured series. As there shown, 

 they are seen to be very closely allied to one another structurally, the polyps in each genus 

 being very simple, and furnished with but twelve symmetrical, knobbed, or capitate tentacles. 



The only prominent form that remains unnoticed is the broadly expanded foliaceous 

 example, No. 23, located near the centre of the immediate foreground. In shape and aspect it 

 bears no inconsiderable resemblance to certain encrusting fungi. This species, Podobacia 

 Crustacea, agrees very nearly in the structure of its corallum and living tissues with Lophoseris 

 cristata, included in Plate VIII. of the tinted series. In that species the ground hue of the 

 general surface is usually light brown or a delicate lemon-yellow, and the radiating star-like 

 polyps are pale apple or emerald-green. 



Notwithstanding the extreme beauty of form and structure exhibited by the artificially- 

 prepared corals that form the subject of this introductory plate, these exquisite fabrications 

 of carbonate of lime, it will now be understood, represent but the whitened bones or skeletons 

 of brilliant-hued living organisms. An intelligible analogy to the relationship that subsists 

 between, and the comparative beauties that respectively characterise, these dry bones and the 

 living polyps which they support, is afforded by their comparison with the more or less familiar 

 lime-bleached skeleton leaves and floral envelopes that in former years enjoyed brief patronage 

 for drawing-room decoration. The intricate lace-like traceries of wood}- fibre, of which these 



