ANTHOZOA. 51 



are required constructed upon a larger scale, it be- 

 comes needful that the whole fabric should be sup- 

 ported upon some internal framework or scaffolding, 

 of a nature sufficiently firm and unyielding to sus- 

 tain the general body, and thus allow full room for 

 the expansion of the flower-like Polypes. In a vast 

 majority of instances, therefore, the common sub- 

 stance of these creatures has the power of depositing 

 earthy particles derived from the surrounding water, 

 wherewith it builds a massive skeleton, presenting 

 upon its surface innumerable little pits or cells 

 wherein the Polypes lodge. Such are 



The Madrepores, whose skeletons form the ornaments 

 of our cabinets, and of which a small fragment is deline- 

 ated in the accompanying engraving (Fig. 34). 



FlG. 34. MADREPOBE. 



Many of these stony masses form branching clusters of 

 exceeding elegance, nor is our admiration at all abated 

 when we institute a closer examination of their structure. 

 Take any one of all the million cells which crowd its 

 surface, each tiny orifice in which each individual Polype 

 of the countless host resides is in itself a microscopic 

 gem, matchless for the regularity and beauty of its ar- 

 rangement, and the mathematical precision with which it 



D 2 



