138 THE SEA-SHORE 



PLATE XLVI 

 CORALLINE (i) 



For a great many years naturalists could not 

 make up their minds whether this very pretty 

 sea-weed was really a sea-weed or not. For it 

 possesses the curious power of sucking out lime 

 from the sea-water and building it up round 

 itself, just as the polyps of the madrepores and 

 the corals do: so that when it dies and decays 

 it leaves a kind of chalky skeleton behind it. For 

 this reason it was often supposed to be really a 

 kind of coral. We know now, however, that it 

 is a plant. For if it is placed in acid, which 

 dissolves away this " skeleton," we find that a true 

 vegetable framework is left behind it. 



While it is alive the coralline is of a deep purple 

 colour. It is quite a small plant, growing only 

 to a height of four or five inches, and you may 

 find it in quantities on the rocks near low-water 

 mark. 



PLATE XLVI 



DULSE (2) 



This weed is also known as the Dillisk, or 

 Dillosk. I dare say that you have often seen 

 it, for it is quite common on nearly all the rocky 





