I 



276 THE SCHOOL OF REAUMUR 



long under discussion, viz., whether corals and sea- 

 anemones are animals or plants. K^aumur had hitherto 

 accepted and enforced the teaching of Count Marsigli, 

 who had described the polyps of corals as their flowers. 

 Peyssonel, a native of Marseilles, who had diligently 

 studied the corals of the Mediterranean, tried in vain to M 

 get a hearing for more sensible views. He had seen " 

 the polyps extend their tentacles, open and close their 

 mouths ; had ascertained that they were not, like 

 flowers, restricted to a particular season, but were 

 always to be found on living coral, and had ren- 

 dered it highly probable that they had the chemical 

 composition of animals, one proof being that when they 

 putrefied they gave out the odour of decomposing 

 animals. Eeaumur, who had been invited to bring 

 Peyssonel's paper before the Academy of Sciences, did 

 so with the greatest scepticism, did not even name his 

 correspondent (for fear, as he afterwards explained, of fl 

 bringing ridicule upon him), and immediately laid before 

 the Academy a paper of his own, in which he supported 

 Marsigli's erroneous interpretation of the corals. 



Trembley's discoveries caused Bernard de Jussieu to 

 examine closely examples of different kinds of zoophytes 

 (Alcyonium, Tubipora, Flustra, Cellepora), all of which 

 he showed to be unquestionably compound animals. 

 Reaumur was now converted. He accepted the con- 

 clusions of Trembley and Bernard de Jussieu, apologised 

 for his incredulous reception of Peyssonel's observations, 

 and employed all his gifts of exposition to spread the 

 belief in the animal nature of the corals and zoophytes. 



Peyssonel, who received hard treatment all through, 

 had gone on a forlorn errand to Guadeloupe as physi- 

 cian-botanist to His Most Christian Majesty. When 

 Rdaumur withdrew his opposition, Peyssonel made a 





