JBtcti0narjj at 



feature. 149 



are soon tenanted by various forms of ani- 

 mals, and at some subsequent period afford 

 a habitation to Man." 



Speaking of an island which was evidently 

 of coral origin, Capt. Flinders thus reasons : 

 " It seems to me, that when the animalcules 

 which form the corals at the bottom of the 

 ocean cease to live, their structures adhere 



\ to each other, by virtue either of the gluti- 

 nous remains within, or of some property in 

 salt water : and the interstices being gra- i 

 dually filled up with sand and broken pieces \ 

 of coral washed by the sea, which also ad- 



! here, a mass of rock is at length formed. 

 Future races of these animalcules erect their 

 habitations upon the rising bank, and die 

 in their turn to increase, but principally to 

 \ elevate, this monument of their wonderful 

 labours. The care taken to work perpen- 

 dicularly in the early stages, would mark a 

 surprising instinct in these diminutive crea- 

 tures. Their wall of coral, for the most 

 part in situations where the winds are con- 

 stant, being arrived at the surface, affords 

 a shelter, to leeward of which their infant 

 colonies may be safely sent forth : and to 

 this their instinctive foresight it seems to be 

 owing, that the windward side of a reef, 

 exposed to the open sea, is generally, if not 

 always, the highest part, and rises almost 

 perpendicular, sometimes from the depth of 

 200, and perhaps many more fathoms. To 

 be constantly covered with water seems ne- 

 cessary to the existence of the animalcules, 

 for they do not work, except in holes upon 

 the reef, beyond low-water mark ; but the 

 coral sand and other broken remnants 

 thrown up by the sea adhere to the rock, 

 and form a solid mass with it, as high as the 

 common tides reach. That elevation sur- 

 passed, the future remnants, being rarely 

 covered, lose their adhesive property ; and 

 remaining in a loose state, form what is 

 usually called a key upon the top of the reef. 

 The new bank is not long in being visited 

 by sea birds, salt plants take root upon it, 

 and a soil begins to be formed ; a cocoa nut, 

 or the drupe of a pandanus is thrown on 

 shore ; land birds visit it, and deposit the 

 seeds of shrubs and trees ; every high tide, 

 and still more every gale, adds something to 

 the bank ; the form of an island is gradually 

 assumed ; and last of all comes man to take 



A few words in this place respecting the 

 J CORAL FISHERY may not be inappropriate. 

 \ The manner of fishing being nearly the same 

 \ wherever coral is found, it will suffice to state 

 ' the method adopted by the French, under the 

 , direction of the company established at Mar- 

 seilles. Seven or eight men go in a boat com- 

 manded by the proprietor ; and when the net 

 is thrown by the caster, the rest work the 

 vessel, and help to draw the net in. The 

 net is composed of two rafters of wood tied 

 crosswise, with leads fixed to them : to these 

 they fasten a quantity of hemp twisted 

 loosely round, and intermingled with some 

 loose netting. This instrument is let down 

 where they think there is coral, and pulled 

 up again, when the coral is strongly en- 

 tangled in the hemp and netting. For this, 

 six boats are sometimes required ; and if, in 



hauling in, the rope happens to break, the 

 fishermen run the hazard of being lost. Be- 

 fore the fishers go to sea they agree for the 

 price of the coral ; and they engage, on pain 

 of corporal punishment, that neither they 

 nor their crew shall embezzle any, but de- 

 liver the whole to the proprietors. Red 

 Coral is found in the Mediterranean, on the 

 shores of Provence, about the isles of Majorca 

 and Minorca, on the south of Sicily ; on the 

 coast of Africa ; and, lastly, in the Ethiopic 

 Ocean, and about Cape Negro. The divers 

 say that the little branches are found only 

 in the caverns whose situation is parallel to 

 the earth's surface, and open to the south. 



CORBULA. A genus of marine Mollusca, 

 some species inhabiting the British coasts. 

 Shell regular, inequivalve, and inequilateral, 

 scarcely gaping ; one cardinal spoon-shaped 

 tooth in each valve, but no lateral; ligament 

 interior. These small shells are met with 

 in the seas of New Holland, China, and 

 South America. 



COREID^E. A family of Hemiptera, of 

 which there are a few brown coloured species 

 in this country ; in tropical climates, where 

 there is a luxuriant vegetation, they abound, 

 and from their size, and frequently grotesque 

 shapes, as may be seen in the British Mu- 

 seum collection, are very striking. In the 

 example figured (Diactor bilincatus), a native 



LEAP LEGOKD COFIEO8. 

 (UIA01OR BIUNEA/lOa ) 



of Brazil, the hind legs have singular leaf- 

 like appendages to their tibial joints. This, 

 however, is common to many other species. 

 The smell of these insects is peculiar ; the 

 word cimicine, may be used to express it ; it 

 is very far from agreeable, and has associa- 

 tions connected with it by no means pleasing. 



COREGONUS. The Guiniad. A genus 

 of Malacopterygious fishes, belonging to the 

 Salmonidce family, distinguished by a small 

 trout-like mouth, but with few teeth, and 

 sometimes none ; the scales rather large ; 

 and the dorsal fin short. There are many 

 species of this genus, some in the sea, others 

 in the fresh waters only. It feeds on insects, 

 and minute fresh-water Crustacea. 



They seem to abound in the Arctic parti 



O 3 



