188 TJIi: BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



The Museum of Natural History at Paris possesses' 

 the unprinted manuscripts which contain the results 

 of his studies of the nature of coral, and of many- 

 zoophytes. He demonstrates tliat the coral branch 

 is an aggregation of animalcules, and he compares 

 them to tlie sea-nettles, whose name was already 

 known. "I have had," he says, *'the pleasure of 

 seeing removed the claws or feet of tliat nettle, and 

 having put tlie vessel of water, in which the coral 

 was placed, over a fire, all the animalcules expanded. 

 I stirred the fire and caused the water to boil, when 

 the creatures came out of the coral precisely as when 

 one cooks any kind of shellfish."* 



This discovery was opposed to so many prejudices 

 that it was badly received for some time. Eeaumnr, 

 whose name was then all-powerful in science, ex- 

 pressed ironically his dissent, without having in the 

 least attempted to test the researches of Peyssonnel, 

 and this probably prevented the publication of a 

 manuscript which would be well worthy of being 

 rescued from oblivion. 



Numerous other labours in this field of research, 

 among which those of M. Lacaze-Dutiiiers may be 

 mentioned as not the least remarkable, have made 

 us pretty well acquainted with the nature of coral. 

 It results from the interior hardening of a polypier, 



* I'^ait^ da Corail 



