106 THE EVOLUTION OF CONTINUITY 



The Compound Corals undoubtedly share a common 

 ancestry with Sea-anemones, and there are no indications 

 that from them evolved any of the higher types. They 



Fig. 37. — Cross-section of a simple coral, m, oesophagus ; w, 

 body-wall ; m, mesentery. The dark-shaded part is the cal- 

 careous skeleton), t, with septa, s, occupying intermesenteric 

 chambers. (Nicholson.) 



arose off Evolution's main road, which appears to have 

 struck onwards straight from the Discontinuously Mega- 

 zooidal Individual. For this reason their mention here is 

 brief. 



