46 



CORAL GALLERY. 



Llance to vegetable growths ; but the part exhibited is merely 

 the dried, hard, horny, or stony basis or supporting skeleton, 

 either of isolated individuals, or of colonies. Corals are allied 

 to the well-known Sea-anemones of our coasts ; the combined 

 skeletons of myriads of these animals form the coral-reefs which 

 constitute the base of thousands of islands in the Indo-Pacific 

 Ocean. Among the larger reef-making species are the Brain- 

 _Corals (Meandrina), one of which is shown in the accompanying 



Fig. 17. — A Bkain-Cokal (Meandrina cerehriformU). 



cut (fig. 17). Near the west end of the gallery is placed a magnifi- 

 cent specimen of the Black Coral of the Mediterranean {Gerardia 

 savcdia), obtained off the coast of the island of Euboea in the 

 -lEgean Sea. The drawing in the case shows a magnified 

 view of the "animals" or polyps of this species as they appear 

 in life. In case 13 are specimens and drawings of the Bed 

 Coral {Corallitcm ruhrum), so largely used for ornamental pur- 

 poses, and also of the crimson Organ-pipe Coral (TuUjmxi 

 musica). Arranged on shelves on the south wall of the 



