THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 61 
common, being abundant on every rocky shore, or- 
dinarily presents, though subject to much variation, 
the form of a spreading bushy tuft, from one to 
four inches high, growing from a broad stony base, 
of a shape more or less round. Each branch con- 
sists of many short joints, a little broader at the 
upper than at the lower end, which often send out 
other jointed branches from each upper shoulder, as 
well as from the centre. The joints are of a stony 
CoraLuine (Corallina officinalis), 
or rather Shelly consistence, being chiefly a deposit 
of lime; when dead they are perfectly white, but 
in a living state they assume a purplish tint. Lin- 
neus and many other eminent men were deceived 
by this shelly appearance into an opinion of their 
animal nature, maintaining that animals alone ever 
produced lime. But on removing the calcareous 
deposit, we perceive that it is merely a crust en- 
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