CORACITK. 



CORALLINACE^E. 



Head and baae of the bill ornamented with a 

 ^ a sort of parasol, composed of *traight elevated 

 . w ,th white and etiff shaft*, and terminated by an ear (<pi) of 

 black beard*, which project* forwards (se renverae en devant). The 

 of the neck are naked, but long feather* forming a looee pelerine, 

 .WB lower than the breast, spring from beneath the 

 the aide* of the neck. Tail long, slightly rounded. 

 ftTiml plumage of a deep black. Greet and feather, of the pelerine 

 riving nv^ic reflection*. (Leseon.) 



The bird that furnished the description was brought to M. Geoffrey- 

 gaJBt-Hileire from Lkbon. M. Leaeon state* that the belief was that 

 it came from Brazil, but that a well-informed Portuguese had told 

 him that it was from QJ*. M. Tieillot My* that the colour of the 

 naked akin of the neck I* cerulean blue. Mr. Swainson, in hu 



Vaton! History and Clsseil nation of Bird*,' London, 1836, My* : 



The creat of this extraordinary bird is immensely large, advancing 

 so br in front m to touch the end of the bill, and it is oompresMd in 

 the came manner as that of Rupirola ; but the ends of the feather*, 

 Inslssil of meeting so as to form a sharp ridge, suddenly recede from 

 each other, curve outwards, and form a most elegant drooping line of 

 plume*, hanging over on the sides so a* to shade the face like an 

 umbrella. The figures that have hitherto been given of this rare 

 bod are all taken from the specimen in the Paris Museum, and which 

 has been sadly distorted in the setting up. A minute examination of 

 this fTTfrnf ha* convinced us that the frontal feathers, instead of 

 being raved over the bill, a* Temminck represents them, partly repose 

 and overshadow it, at least a* much a* do those of Calyptumtna and 



' (voL i. p. 41). Tbe species above noticed is the only one 



as anmas an pants. en ter structure was mperecty 



stood they were regarded with many of the zoophytes (Pol 

 and Pulyioa) and sponge* as sea-weed*. When the animal 

 of thees beings was established it was again an inference t 



CORACITE (Le Conte), an ore resembling Pitchblende [PITCH 

 BUS in], in which oxide of aluminium supplants a part of the oxide 

 of uranium contained in that mineral It is found on the north 

 shore of Lake Superior in a vein two inches wide, near the junction 

 of trap and syenite. It occurs massive with a resinous lustre, and 

 has a hardness of 4'S, and a specific gravity of 4-38. 



CORAL. [PoLTririEA.] 



CORAL RAO, the most calcareous or at least most coralliferoug 

 part of the Oxford Oolite Formation. It U a variable and singular 

 rock, most rich in Mfdrtukylluia and Echinodermata, in the vicinity 

 ufCalne. 



CORALI.IVA. [CoRii-uxACM.] 



CORALLINA<'K.K, a family of Marine Plants belonging to the 

 order Alya. According to Harvey's definition it includes the Coral- 

 UM* and SfOitgiHa of Kiitxing, and the Coraltinid* and XuUiporida 

 of Dr. Johnston. 



The forms referred to this family have been alternately regarded 

 as animals and plants. When their structure was imperfectly under- 



(Polypi/era 

 al nature 

 that the 



Corallines belonged to the animal kingdom. Recent researches have 

 however demonstrated the truly vegetable nature of this family both 

 in their general structure and mode of reproduction. The following 

 U Dr. Harvey's diagnosis in his 'Manual of the British Marine 

 Alfa :' Rigid, articulated, or crustaceous, mostly calcareous sea- 

 weeds, purple when recent, fading on exposure to milk-white. 

 Composed of closely-packed elongated cells or filaments, in which 

 carbonate of lime is deposited in an organised form. Tetraspores 

 tufted, contained in ovate or spherical conceptaolea. Cenuuidia 

 furnished with a terminal pore. 



Tbe following general remarks on this family are taken from Dr. 

 Harvey's work : The root, where this organ is manifested, is an ex- 

 panded onwUoeous disc, often widely spreading. The frond almost 

 always calcareous, effervescing strongly when thrown into acids, rarely 

 deeUuite of lime, very variable in aspect and habit. The lowest 

 forms uf the order are simple incrustations, spreading like the crus- 

 Uoeoua lichen* over the surface of rucks, or the fronds of the larger 

 Alga. In the smaller of these the crust is a mere film, as thin as 

 paper, generally circular, and extending by means of small addition* 

 to the circumference. so that the frond become* marked as it advances 

 with eoocentiic circles. In the larger the crust is thick and atony, 

 rising hen and there into 

 >rther advance man 



habit at Aret papilla rise , 



widen, and lengthen, and at length throw nut branches, till a .hr.i'.l.;. 

 frond, of (ton* hardneea, but extremely britUe, is formed. All these 

 change* In character take place within the limits of a single genus, 

 ***. rly related to this (and by many botanists considered 

 identical) is JfwfepAera, a genus in which the frond U expanded 

 farto leafy lobes, usually fan-shaped, eessile, or stalked, but not adnate 

 to rocks; of a flexible *ub*Unoe, containing a amaller portion of 

 carbonate of lime than the former group. Some of these have the 

 habit of />orfiM, but differ from that genus in being of a red colour. 



organised of the leafy or fmndoae 



an aony, 



o prominence and sinking into depressions. 



nifesto itself by the crust assuming a branched 



rise from the surface; these thirken, and 



Oorrili*.-(jrW'W). The articulated or true Coralline _ 

 iUform. either pinnated or dichotomous, the branch** formed of 

 strings of calcareous articulation., truncated at the upper extremity 

 and rounded at the lower, each articulation connected with that above 



and below it by a flexible joint composed of cellular tissue, destitute 

 of carbonate of lime. This joint in our British species is scarcely 

 evident till after maceration ; but in many exotic specie* (of A mphiroa) 

 it is so long a* to interrupt the continuity of the articulations, and is 

 either marked or coated with wart-like calcareous tubercle*. 



The form of the articulations vane* extremely, and often in the 

 ame species, or even in the same specimen, so that the determination 

 of these plaute U sometimes difficult In many the articulations are 

 cylindrical, in others oval and compressed, in some flat and irregularly 

 shaped ; but in the greater number they are heart-ahaped or wedge- 

 shaped, with the upper angle* frequently prolonged with horns. 



The fructification consists of hollow external or immersed rmi- 

 ceptacle* containing a tuft of oblong spores, divided nt maturity by 

 three horizontal fissure* into four parts. They are therefore tetra- 

 spores, precisely similar to those of Plocamium, Hypnea, Ac. The 

 nature of the conoeptacle varies even in the same species. Thux in 

 Corallina it is normally formed by the metamorphosis of the terminal 

 articulation of the branches, which swells at the sides and becomes 

 pierced at the apex; but in C. iquamata and even in C. officinalit 

 other articulations frequently bear numerous small hemispherical 

 conceptacles on their sides ; and sometime* the whole surface is 

 warted with such, and these irregular organs are equally furnUhed 

 with tetrupore* as the normal one*. These latter conceptaclea, which 

 are irregular in Corallina, are the normal fruit of A mphiroa, a geuux 

 chiefly from the Southern Ocean. In Jania the conceptacle is similar 

 to that of Corallina, except that it generally bears a pair uf raiauli 

 (resembling the antenna* of an insect) from its upper angles. 



The Corallines are found in all parts of the ocean, but are much 

 more numerous in warm than in cold countries, and some of the 

 species of the tropical and sub-tropical ocean are among the most 

 beautiful of marine vegetables. Until recently the plants of this 

 order were with other calcareous Alga confounded with Zoophytet, or 

 polypiferous corals. They are however undoubtedly of vegetable 

 nature, and when the lime which they contain is removed by acid, 

 the vegetable framework concealed beneath it ia found to be of a 

 similar structure to that of other Rhodosperms, to which group of 

 Alga they are further allied by their colour and the nature of their 

 spore*. The order consists of two, or if Lythocyita be rightly placed 

 in it, of three sub-orders, as follows : 



Synoptit of the Britith Genera. 

 Sub-order 1. Corallinea. Frond filiform, articulated. 



1. Corallina. Frond pinnated. Ceramidia terminal, simple. 



2. Jania. Frond dichotomous. Ceramidia tipped with two horn- 

 like ramulL 



Sub-order 2. Nulliporea. Frond crustaceous or foliaceous, opaque, 

 not articulated. 



3. Jfelobtiia. Frond stony, forming either a cruataceous expansion 

 or a foliaceous or shrub-like body. 



4. llildenbrandtia. Frond cartilaginous, not stony, forming a 

 crustaceous expansion. 



Sub-order 3. Lythocyttca;. Frond plane, hyaline, composed of 

 cells radiating from a centre. Fructification unknown. 



5. Lythocyttu. A minute parasite. 



Sub-order 1. Corallinea. 



1. Corallina. Frond filiform, articulated, branched (mostly pin- 

 nate), coated with a calcareous deposit Fructification turbinate or 

 obovate, mostly terminal Ceramidia, pierced at the apex by a minute 

 spore, and containing a tuft of erect pyriform or club-shaped trans- 

 versely parted tetrupore*. Name from Corallium, Coral, which these 

 plants resemble in having a stony substance. 



C. officinalii U the most common example of thin genus on KritixU 

 shore*. It is decompound, pinnate, the lower articulations cylindrical, 

 twice a* long a* broad, upper slightly obconical, round edged, their 

 angle* blunt, ultimate ramuli cylindrical obtuse. It is found on rocks 

 between the tide marks, extending from the limits of high to the 

 extremity of low water mark. Perennial. Winter and spring. The 

 root is a widely expanded red crust The tY.-n,!< t>..m two to six 

 inches high, tufted, much branched, bipinnatod, but varying greatly 

 in luxuriance according to the depth at which it grow*. 



C. elongate and C. tquauuila are both British species, and are 

 mentioned in Dr. Johnston's work on the Corallines and also by 

 Dr. Harvey. 



2. Jania. Frond filiform, articulated, dichotomous, branch..!, 

 coated with a calcareous deposit. Fructification urn-shaped. Ceruiuiiliu 

 formed of the axillary articulation of the uppermost branches (u 

 two-homed), pierced at the apex by a minute pore, and containing a 

 tuft of erect pyriform transversely parted tetraspores. Named from 

 Janira, one of the ftereide*. 



J. rulxru U found on all part* of the British coast on the smaller 

 Alyir between tide marks. The articulations of the princi|l branches 

 and ramuli are cylindrical, about four times as long as broad. The 

 frond* are from half au inch to two inches high, denxely tufted, 

 dichotomous, many times forked, fastigiate ; branches either erect or 

 spreading gradually, tapering upwards. Articulation* cylindrical in 

 all parts of the frond, without prominent angles ; those near the base 

 very short, the upper one* gradually longer. Ceramidia subterminal, 



