600 Eadiaia. 



STONY COKALS. 



THE RED CORAL, just described, belongs to the section of 

 zoophytes called Asteroida by Cuvier, in which the 

 surface of the polypidom is fleshy, and each polypus has 

 only eight arms. The polypi which form the massive 

 stony corals of the tropical reefs, are furnished with 

 numerous tentacles, and resemble in their general confor- 

 mation the Sea Anemones which are so well known now- 

 a-days as inhabitants of aquaria. The coral consists of 

 a deposit of carbonate of lime, and each polypus dwells in 

 a cell which exhibits a number of thin stony rays nearly 

 meeting in the middle. The masses of coral differ ex- 

 ceedingly in size, some consisting of the habitations of 

 only two or three polypi, whilst others are the gradual 

 production of a vast and constantly succeeding popula- 

 tion ; some form branched trees and shrubs of the most 

 various and elegant forms, others grow in solid masses, 

 but all, when living, present a most beautiful appearance 

 from the charming and often brilliant diversity of colours 

 with which they are adorned. 



In the Pacific Ocean several of the coral reefs are 

 extremely beautiful, and the voyager is astonished with 

 the curious and fantastic forms of the various marine pro- 

 ductions of which they are composed. "VV heat-sheaves, 

 mushrooms, cabbage leaves, with innumerable plants and 

 flowers, are vividly represented by different kinds of 

 Coral, and glow beneath the water in brilliant tints of 

 brown and purple, white or green ; each with a peculiar 

 form and shade of colouring, equal in richness and 

 variety to the most beautiful productions of the vege- 

 table world. Corals and fungi start from between the 

 fissures of the rocks ; while large portions of the former, 

 in a dead state, connected into a solid mass, of a dull 

 white colour, compose the stone-work of the reef. Solid 

 masses, termed negro heads, of different dusky hues, and 

 generally dry and blackened by exposure to the weather, 

 are also occasionally conspicuous. Even these are not 

 without ornament, for nature delights in the variety of 



