106 GLAUCUS; OR, 



rated into a vegetable. Of tliem you must read 

 for yourselves in Mr. Gosse's book ; in tbe meanwhile 

 he shall tell you something of the beautiful Madre- 

 pores themselves. His description * by far the best 

 yet published, should be read in full ; we must con- 

 tent ourselves with extracts. 



"Doubtless you are familiar with the stony ske- 

 leton of our Madrepore, as it appears in museums. 

 It consists of a number of thin calcareous plates 

 standing up edgewise, and arranged in a radiating 

 manner round a low centre. A little below the 

 margin, their individuality is lost in the deposition 

 of rough calcareous matter. . . . The general 

 form is more or less cylindrical, commonly wider at 

 the top than just above the bottom. . . . This is 

 but the skeleton ; and though it is a very pretty 

 object, those who are acquainted with it alone, can 

 form but a very poor idea of the beauty of the living 

 animal. . . . Let it, after being torn from the 

 rock, recover its equanimity; then you will see a 

 pellucid gelatinous flesh emerging from between the 

 * A Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast, p. 110. 



