LYTHOPHYTES AND SPONGES. 195 



in Barbadoes, but also on many parts of the coast 

 of Cornwall, and along the shores of the Con- 

 tinent. 



CHAPTER V. 



OF THE LYTHOPHYTES AND SPONGES. 



IT is very probable that the animals we see, and 

 are acquainted with, bear no manner of propor- 

 tion to those that are concealed from us. Al- 

 though every leaf and vegetable swarms with ani- 

 mals upon land, yet at sea they are still more abun- 

 dant ; for the greatest part of what would seem 

 vegetables growing there, are in fact nothing but 

 the artificial formation of insects, palaces which 

 they have built for their own habitation. 



If we examine the bottom of the sea along some 

 shores, and particularly at the mouths of several 

 rivers, we shall find it has the appearance of a 

 forest of trees under water, millions of plants 

 growing in various directions, with their branches 

 entangled in each other, and sometimes standing 

 so thick as to obstruct navigation. The shores of 

 the Persian Gulf, the whole extent of the Red 

 Sea, and the western coasts of America, are so 

 choked up in many places with these coraline sub- 

 stances, that though ships force a passage through 

 them, boats and swimmers find it impossible to 

 make their way. These aquatic groves are form- 



