ALCYONARIA. 255 



an insect, as the bee builds comb, or the wasp its nest, 

 and the industry of this supposed insect is often 

 spoken of. But it is not proper to give the name 

 Insect to the Coral Polyps, for they are in no way 

 related to Insects, either in appearance, structure, or 

 habits. Coral is not something which is built, but 

 something which grows. It is the skeleton, or many 

 united skeletons, of Polyps, and these animals exhibit 

 no industry in forming it, any more than do other 

 animals in forming their own bones. Coral is not a 

 house in which the animal lives; on the contrary, the 

 coral is wholly inside of the animals, and it is only 

 when the Polyps die, wither, and disappear that we 

 see the solid coral itself. Polyps grow in various and 

 most wonderful and beautiful forms, imitating almost 

 all kinds of vegetation, as lichens, fungi, mosses, ferns, 

 grasses, herbs, shrubs and trees. A hundred years 

 ago, or more, they were thought to be plants, and even 

 the great naturalist, Linnaeus, regarded them as plant- 

 animals, that is, partaking of the character of both 

 plants and animals; even now they are often called 

 Zoophytes, a word which means animal-plants, al- 

 though they are in no way related to plants. The 

 colors of these wonderful animals of the sea are as 

 beautiful and almost as varied as their forms ; and 

 some of the Polyp communities equal, in splendor 

 of colors, the most beautiful flower gardens of the 

 land. 



Sea-pens, Grorgonias, etc., or Alcyonaria. 



These are Polyps which have eight long fringed or 

 lobed tentacles, around a narrow disk. Figures 488- 



