174 TOILERS IN THE SEA. 



that are included in a single thriving colony. An 

 American naturalist says, that he has seen one species 

 discharging embryos as early as March, and as late 

 as the middle of September, " during all which time 

 thousands were continually shed, and consequently 

 thousands of new colonies established, their multipli- 

 cation being so great, during a favourable season, that 

 the rocks literally appeared clothed with the yellow 

 stems, and rose-coloured blossom-like bodies, of these 

 flower-animals." 



It being the object of this chapter to indicate 

 generally, the structure and habits of the little builders 

 who construct the horny homes in which they dwell, 

 as " Toilers in the Sea," it is unnecessary to particu- 

 larise the different species, or point out their charac- 

 ters, whereby one may be known from the other, 

 since those who are desirous of continuing the study 

 further will not expect to find such information in 

 one short chapter, and, moreover, there is already 

 an excellent text-book for that purpose, by the Rev. 

 Thomas Hincks, to which we have already alluded. 



" Amongst the rejectamenta which strew the shore 

 after a fresh breeze and a rough tide, there are few 

 things more likely to arrest the eye, and win the 

 admiration, even of the least observant, than the 

 zoophytes, which mingle their light and flexile forms 

 with the tangled masses of weed, or lie in graceful 

 tufts upon the sand. With the uninitiated, their 



