JEWEL- MAKERS AND ISLAND BUILDERS. \Q 



that it was part plant and part animal. Still later 

 coral was declared to be manufactured by insects ; and 

 many people at the present time speak of the " coral 

 insect." 



Coral is not a plant, nor is it an animal-plant. It is 

 not manufactured by an insect or by any other ani- 

 mal. The living coral, as it is found in the sea, is an 

 animal, and the dead coral in the necklace is a part 

 of the skeleton of a once living coral. Here, then, is 

 an animal a little like the sponge. It is stationary, 

 or fixed to a particular place. It is a little higher grade 

 of animal than the sponge ; for, while it has no eyes, 

 ears, nose, or legs, it has a simple mouth, a stomach, 

 and something like feet, all of which the sponge does 

 not possess. 



The preceding illustration presents an object quite 

 like a flower. It is a sprig of a kind of coral that 

 branches out like a tree. No wonder .people once 

 thought the coral a plant. The petals or leaves of 

 the flower, however, are the feelers or feeders of the 

 animal. They are called tentacles. They have also 

 been regarded as feet ; and because there are many of 

 them the animal was named a polyp, which means 

 many-footed. Some kinds of polyps are produced from 

 eggs, and for a while swim about. 



The hole in the middle of the flower is the mouth. 

 The petal-like tentacles move ; and, when the proper 

 food floats within reach, they grasp it and turn it into 

 the mouth. From the mouth the food passes into the 

 stomach, from which the nourishment is sent to every 

 part of the polyp, while the useless matter is thrown 

 out again at the mouth. When danger approaches, 



