OCEAN GARDENS; 



the animal itself from a secretion with which its 

 outer integuments are inyested, and which may be 

 described as lime in a state of solution. The thick- 

 ened edge of the mantle, by means of which the form 

 is given to the shell, and the general manipulation 

 effected, is furnished, as may be seen with the aid of 

 a moderate lens, with a minute and highly sensitive 

 fringe, the cilia of which are of various colours, 

 corresponding in tone and position to the tints which 

 decorate the exterior of the shell. The coloured 

 cilia or fringes have doubtless a dyeing power, 

 which colours the calcareous solution at the time it 

 is added to the shell by their plastic instinct. The 

 solution becomes a hard testaceous substance so 

 soon as it leaves the body of the animal, and is 

 deposited in architectural layers upon the beautiful 

 structure of the shell, by the 'Hrowel" and 



brushes " of the edge of the mantle. 

 This process is beautifully described in Jones's 



Animal Kingdom," with all the details relating 

 to the successive ridges on the shell, which mark 

 the age of the animal ; it having been ascertained 

 what time is required for the completion of each 

 story of the edifice. 



The power of locomotion is one of the most 

 curious subjects for observation in the structure of 



68 



