SOME WONDEES OF THE SEA. 



CHAPTER IV. 



CORALS. 



WHETHER dropping "like the gentle dew from 

 heaven upon the earth beneath ; " whether falling 

 in tropical rain-torrents, and tearing its way seawards 

 through solid rock ; whether floating gently downwards 

 in feathery snowflakes, or crashing all before it in the 

 form of icy hail, the Avater which has been suspended in 

 the atmosphere finds its Avay back to the sea, whence it 

 was evoked by the sunbeams. 



But it does not return unaccompanied, for the water 

 that has rushed through many regions carries with it 

 samples more or less discernible of the soils through 

 which it has passed. Among others, an enormous 

 amount of calcareous earth is continually poured into 



