THE GORGONIA VERRUCOSA. 
5 To 
of this class. To this also belongs the Organ-pipe coral — the precious red coral of jewelry — 
the curious Sea-pens, Yenellas, etc. The Sea-fans and Sea-feathers are abundant on the shoals 
of the Florida Reef. Acres of them may be seen, bending with the tide like so many land 
grasses or shrubs. Their colors are pretty and striking, while living, and some are of a 
beautiful red and sulphur- yellow when dead. 
GORGON! A.— Gorgonia verrucosa. 
The Goegonia veeeucsosa figured above is a common example in other seas. The egg 
case of a shark is shown very prettily, with its coiling tendrils wound around the branches of 
the Gorgonia. The polyps of this species are shown plainly, while most others are too minute 
to show distinctly. The illustration is of natural size. 
An allied species belonging to the same family {Isis hippuris ) is formed in a very strange 
fashion. Its branches are composed of a number of strong joints, united together by horny 
rings, so that a certain amount of flexibility pervades its structure. Owing to this formation, 
it is sometimes called the Hoen-plant, or Sea-sheub, titles surviving from the time when 
all the corals were thought to be vegetables, and the expanded polypes to be their flowers. 
They are always fixed by a base, and grow like trees, with their branches upwards. It 
