THE TKIUMPH OF LIFE 



Life, sown in the endless ocean, sucks in tlie tiny 

 particles of lime, that are dissolved in this 

 water column like sugar in tea. The lime ab- 

 sorbed by the corals builds up miles of firm, 

 strong islands, upon which palm forests grow 

 green and men can dwell. 



Even this does not exhaust the full signifi- 

 cance of the picture. The coral, within the wa- 

 ter, is a child of light and warmth. It can not 

 go down into the water more than one hundred 

 and twenty feet. Its colored mat does not ex- 

 tend further than that down the steep cliff. Here 

 then must lie the lower limit of its island build- 

 ing. There must then be subterranean sea-cliffs > 

 at that depth in order that the corals may build' 

 upon it the pyramid that is finally to appear as 

 an actual island. This seems to limit the sizo 

 somewhat. The island building of the corals is 

 then really but the building of tips, only crown- ,; 

 ings and completions: it only builds submerged 

 reefs into true islands. But even the lowest out- 

 posts of this mat rest still upon coral lime-stone. 

 Downwards in the darkness from it falls the 

 lime-cliff with no sign (♦f the true cliff rock. Is 

 this simply composed of the loose material that 

 has rolled down from above? But this lime is 

 found under the whole life-zone of the coral col- 

 ony. We sink a hole in this island rim, and 

 bore down past the lowest level of the mat — ^bor- 

 ing down and down — and still remain in coral 

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