NATUEAL HISTOEY OE THE EED COEAL. 
The egg (o) is a large spherical translucent body with its yollcj 
fjerminal vesicle, and sjpot, and is enclosed in a capsnle_, which is 
attached by a short pedicle to the structures we have referred 
to already. The sperm cells are likewise contained in a cap- 
sule {t), which_, as in the case of the ovum^ is connected by a stalk 
with the thread-like masses. Its capsule^ however^ unlike the 
ovum, is not of a regularly spherical form, but is rather heart- 
shaped or triangular ; the contained sperm cells are of an oval 
figure, and when crushed discharge a cloudy liquid, which is 
seen under the microscope to consist of thousands of well- 
marked zoosperms with the characteristic oval heads and 
attenuate tails. 
^Tien the organisms produced in both the reproductive 
organs combine, the result is the fertilization of the ova, which 
then become embryoes or young coral. But in order to con- 
vert a fertilized egg into a larva it is necessary to hatch it, 
and this process takes place among coral animals within the 
general cavity of the polypites^ body (fig. 3 B'' f — g) ; and 
when it has been accomplished, the young coral in the form 
of a small white worm just perceptible to the naked eye, is 
expelled through the mouth of its parent and henceforth has 
to go through life on its own account (Bn). Being clothed exter- 
nally with cilia it is enabled to move rapidly through the water, 
which it does for some time until it has found a suitable 
locality in which to settle down. When swimming it is like 
an elongated cylinder one of whose extremities is rounded and 
the other tapering, but when it is at rest the form alters, and 
one end becoming inflated its tout ensemble is that of a balloon. 
Yery soon an absorption of tissue takes place at one end and a 
mouth is thus developed, and it now thinks of subsiding into 
coralhood. Having discovered some foreign body it becomes 
attached to it by a sort of mucous exudation, and rapidly in- 
creased laterally at the expense of its vertical measurement. 
How, a number of spicules become developed, and these arrang- 
ing themselves in a kind of horseshoe form constitute the first 
rudiment of the hard framework to which has been given the 
name of polypidom. The further processes consist in the 
development of sarcosome from the lateral portions, the forma- 
tion of new polypites (bud-polypites) by germination, and in 
this manner the creation of a new zoanthodeme. 
This, then, is a brief history of the coral, its fife, structure, and 
development. It is abundantly distributed over the Mediter- 
ranean sea-bottom, and forms one of the most valuable indus- 
trial resources of the adjacent countries. There are several 
methods adopted for the capture of the coral, and each plan 
is considered by those who pursue it to be the most profitable 
and convenient. Perhaps the most common engine for the 
