56 THE STORY OF LIFE IN THE SEAS. 



Fauna. Just as on land, we find in one part of 

 the Tropics a dense forest, and in another a dry 

 desert, so in the Tropical seas we find on one 

 coast a crowded population of animals and plants, 

 and on another a sandy bottom, which is, com- 

 paratively speaking, lifeless. In order to bring 

 before the reader some of the principal characters 

 of animal life in the shallow waters of the Tropics 

 it will be well to confine his attention to one 

 part of the world which is fairly well known 

 namely, the Malay Archipelago and refer only 

 in passing to other localities. The most character- 

 istic feature of Tropical coasts is the Coral-reef, 

 and nowhere in the world may it be seen in more 

 exquisite variety than in the archipelagoes of the 

 East. Although, however, these vast structures 

 are so abundant on some coasts, others seem 

 to be entirely without them. They are not 

 found at all on the Western coasts of America or 

 of Africa, and even in some regions of the larger 

 islands in the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, 

 many miles of coast line may be devoid of them. 

 These curious and interesting variations in the 

 distribution of the reefs can be explained, but 

 the explanation will be more easily understood 

 when their general features have been described. 

 It is a well-known fact that the great masses 

 of limestone which compose the reefs are formed 

 by the activity of countless thousands of minute 

 animals, but the popular idea of the general 

 form of these animals has been very much misled 

 by the unfortunate term "Coral insect," which 

 has crept into many books of travel, and the 

 leading articles in the newspapers. The word 



