12 
Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture. 
plant  the  stem  is  sliced  and  a portion  removed 
about  three  to  four  inches  in  length.  The 
same  is  done  to  the  selected  twig,  and 
the  two  stems  are  brought  together  at  their 
cut  surfaces  and  well  tied  with  a piece  of 
twine.  Before  doing  this,  pieces  of  plantain 
bark  or  more  properly  sheath  about  four  inches 
in  length  and  half  an  inch  or  less  in  breadth 
are  placed  on  the  two  sides  to  prevent  the 
pressure  of  the  twine  affecting  the  bark  of 
the  grafted  parts. 
Nothing  else  is  applied  so  far  as  I have 
seen,  but  I was  told  it  was  advisable  to  rub 
a little  black  potter’s  clay  over  the  grafted 
parts.  I should  have  mentioned  that  the  pots 
containing  the  plants  are  suspended  by  a 
string  to  a strong  branch  of  the  tree,  and  are 
allowed  to  remain  till  the  two  branches  grow 
together.  The  grafting  is  generally  done  just 
before  the  rains,  so  that  the  plant  might  get  a 
plentiful  supply  of  moisture,  and  in  order  that 
the  sap  might  not  dry  off  and  retard  growth. 
When  the  graft  and  its  host  are  properly 
welded  together,  the  plant  is  separated  from  the 
tree  and  the  pot  is  then  removed  and  the 
plant  put  into  the  ground  in  a prepared  hole. 
The  plant  not  only  produces  a tree  having 
the  desired  properties,  but  bears  fruit  very 
early,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  mangoes 
on  plants  hardly  six  feet  in  height.  But  the 
cultivators  here  prefer  to  allow  the  plants 
to  grow  to  a much  larger  size  before  getting 
a crop,  and  for  this  purpose  they  nip  off  the 
flowers  during  the  first  few  seasons. 
The  paragraph  which  appears  under  the 
General  Items  column  in  the  June  issue  re  the  es- 
tablishment of  a Veterinary  Institution  in  Ben- 
gal has  evidently  been  written  by  an  interested 
party  to  the  Indian  Agriculturist , for  it  says 
that  “ the  Bombay  Veterinary  College  fell  into 
the  error  of  turning  a hospital  for  animals  in- 
to an  infirmary  for  horses,  almost  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  oxen  which  are  the  beasts  of  burden 
and  of  agricultural  work  in  the  East.”  With- 
out contradicting  the  last  part  of  the  state- 
ment, regarding  the  importance  of  cattle  in 
the  East,  the  Bengal  writer  might  be  re- 
ferred to  the  following  from  the  last  monthly 
report  of  the  Bombay  Hospital:-  On  the  first 
of  June  last  there  were  103  bullocks,  17  horses 
and  5 dogs  at  the  Hospital  for  animals;  dur- 
ing the  month  of  June  109  bullocks,  30  horses 
and  21  dogs  were  admitted,  and  during  the 
same  month  82  bullocks,  18  horses  and  17 
dogs  were  discharged  from  the  hospital.  3 cases 
among  bullocks,  4 among  horses  and  6 among 
dogs  proved  fatal  during  the  last  month.” 
The  above  figures  speak  for  themselves. 
Bombay.  W-  A- 
-*■ 
ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES  FOR  AGRICULTURAL 
STUDENTS. 
Sub-kingdom  II.  Ccelenterata  (Gr.  Koilos, 
hollow  ; enteron,  intestine). 
General  Characters. — Animals,  whose  alimentary 
canal  communicates  freely  with  the  general 
cavity  of  the  body,  or  somatic  cavity  ; substance 
of  body  made  up  of  two  fundamental  layers 
or  membranes,— an  outer  layer  called  ectoderm, 
and  an  inner  layer  or  endoderm  ; no  central 
organ  of  circulation  or  distinct  blood  system, 
and  in  most  cases  no  nervous  system  : peculiar 
stinging  organs  or  thread-cells  on  skin  , repro- 
ductive organs  in  all,  but  multiplication  often 
by  non-sexual  methods. 
Class  I. — Hydrozoa  (so  called  after  the  Hy- 
dra or  freshwater  polyp  which  belongs  to 
this  class.)  In  these  the  walls  of  the  digestive 
sac  are  not  separated  from  those  of  the  general 
body  cavity,  the  two  coinciding  ; reproductive 
organs  external.  This  class  also  includes  the 
familiar  sea-firs  ( Sertulaica ),  sea-blubbers  ( Aurelia ), 
jelly-fishes  (Medusoe),  and  Hydrocorallince.  The 
last  sub-class  contains  two  groups  of  marine 
animals  which  produce  a regular  skeleton  of 
carbonate  of  lime  often  of  large  size,  and 
which  have  generally  been  referred  to  the 
corals  (Actinozoa).  One  of  these  groups  com- 
prises the  well-known  Millepora  which  are 
found  contributing  largely  to  the  formation  cf 
coral-reefs  in  the  West  Indies  and  Pacific  ; 
the  other  the  Stylasteridce.  The  Hydrocorallina? 
with  the  exception  of  some  cretaceous  forms 
allied  to  Millipora,  are  not  known  to  be  re- 
presented in  deposits  older  than  the  Tertiary. 
Class. — II. — Actinozoa  : stomach  distinct  but 
opening  below  into  the  body  cavity  which  is 
divided  into  a number  of  compartments  by 
vertical  partitions  or  “ mesenteries  " ; reproduc- 
tive organs  internal.  Under  this  class  fall  the 
sea-anemonies  (Actinia),  star-corals  (Zoantharia), 
red-corals  (Alcyonaria ). 
The  simple  corals  are  generally  of  small  size, 
and  are  found  in  most  seas,  for  the  most  part 
inhabiting  deep  waters.  The  compound  corals, 
on  the  other  hand,  may  attain  to  enormous 
proportions,  since  they  are  formed  by  the  com- 
bined exertions  of  a vast  number  of  zoophytes 
working  together,  and  forming  a common  skeleton. 
In  the  seas  in  which  they  flourish  (Pacific 
and  Indian  Oceans  and  the  Caribbean  sea),  the 
reef -building  polypes  are  accumulating  vast 
masses  of  calcareous  matter  which  will  ulti- 
mately form  islands  and  continents.  Even  at 
the  present  day  coral  reefs  are  often  converted 
into  dry  land  and  become  the  home  of 
animal  and  vegetable  life.  It  is  true  that 
the  rate  of  growth  of  a coral  reef  is  very 
slow,  and  the  individual  workers  at  the  reef 
very  small,  but  the  aggregate  results  produced 
are  on  a scale  of  the  most  striking  magnitude. 
Coral  reefs  flank  many  parts  of  the  coast  of 
Ceylon,  and  the  barrier  reef  on  the  S.  W.  coast 
is  familiar  to  those  who  have  travelled  south 
from  the  metropolis  by  the  coast  railway 
service.  The  material,  namely  calcium  carbonate, 
of  which  coralline  structures  are  composed, 
are  appropiated  by  the  polypes  from  the 
sea-water.  These  reef-builders  require  a term 
perature  somewhat  above  fi8°  to  flourish,  and 
they  do  not  thrive  below  100  ft.  under 
sea-level.  The  great  barrier  reef  of  East 
Australia  varies  in  breadth  from  10  to  90  miles, 
and  extends  for  a distance  of  1,250  miles.  A 
barrier  reef  is  one  that  rises  in  front  of  a 
shore  between  which  and  the  reef  is  a body 
of  water  ; a fringing  reef  is  one  that  extends  from 
land  seawards ; an  atoll  is  a coral  island 
with  a lagoon  in  its  centre.  The  Lacadives 
and  Maldives  consist  of  a large  number  of 
