158 SPONGES. 



hours. What is exceedingly wonderful is, that 

 this stony matter, or coral, is formed from the 

 body of the animal itself. They are also furnished 

 with a number of delicate feelers, which are almost 

 constantly stretched out in the water, and in active 

 motion. 



The " great deep' 5 has no wonder more striking 

 than the formation of coral reefs. In warm 

 climates they are seen rising, like strong walls, 

 from the bottom of the sea, and forming immense 

 circles. The little architects carry on their labours 

 till the buildings are above the surface, when they 

 are exposed to the influence of heat and air. This 

 renders their workmanship crumbly, and thus it 

 becomes a bed for vegetation, the seeds of which 

 are borne to it upon the winds, or by the tide, or 

 brought by some wandering bird which has sought 

 it as a resting place. Thus God, working by such 

 apparently insignificant agents, is continually pro- 

 ducing new islands, which in the course of time, 

 become covered with soil, and fit for the habitation 

 of man. 



Sponges, which grow plentifully on the rocky 

 shores of the Mediterranean sea, are also polypes. 

 These, in place of covering themselves with stone, 

 have a soft, fleshy dwelling, and this forms what 

 we call sponge.- Others amongst them bore holes 

 in rocks, and others make a hard mass of stone, 

 having but little regularity in its shape, and with- 

 out being branched like .coraL These are term- 



