and CORALS. 
tub ular ia 
)T * 
is remarkable, that the Animal Flower, andfpecies of Coral, reprefented in 
c e ] e ^ lls plate, did not fall under thfe inflection of the late eminent and juftly 
b e ratec l Natural Hiftorian Mr. Ellis, to whom we owe fo much of what has 
^j 1 ' ^covered of the life that pervades the coral regions of the fea. His afiiduity 
and ^ er ^ everance for years in collecting marine productions, by all poffible means, 
that ft 111 ever y quarter; and his fo particular attention to them, in order to enrich 
ore of information which his microfcopical obfervations afford ; renders any 
gi 0n ^ Ca P^ Ws notice highly worthy of inveftigation. Indeed, the fubmarine re- 
^ are in many relpeCts inacceffible, and the more happy difcoveries of its rare 
n ip i . — j ./ 
^ted k Ul t ^' an< ^ addrefs wherewith the refearches of natural hiftory can be profe- 
^ e pth r ci ‘ re< -isi n §* But when a ftone of any confiderable fize is raifed up from a 
the aflid 
^ pref twent f or thirty fathom, and preferved with care in a vefiel of fea-water, 
ttHtio entS ° ne Spectacles in the world, and on which microfcopical at- 
bl a g e ^ Can he beftowed with endleis entertainment. Among the' beautiful aflem- 
5do rri S ,°^ cora h an h corallines, flielis, ferpulas, and zoophytes, which clothe and 
0i) e • le ^ e pieces of rock, where infinite varieties of life are fo complexly blended, 
• !S atalr,r, n , . L . 
^and 
■lip- a l°ls on which to fix as molt wonderful, when the whole fcene is fb intereft- 
an 
animals of the long ferpentine tubes of the plate, which are drawn fully the 
to Harr Uacomrnon '• — Some particulars it occafionally is the province of thefe pages 
jj 1 e J in a great meafure correfpond with the charaCteriftics of the AElinia ; but 
^■ubul ^aftic pipes which Nature forms for its refidence, rank it among the 
C °nfid na ^hefe tubes are fbmetimes found a foot or two in length, without any 
a do rtl ^j' a ^ e increafe of diameter, and are generally encrufted round, or richly 
t ) a coralline fubftances. The polype has a mouth or fucker in the centre, 
*ppe a Wavin S tentacu ^ a which furround it give this living flower fomething the 
lt! e Xtr<^ e a tu ^P - Thefe long, aCtive, fpreading fibres are tender and delicate 
Afppr- _ sj' -a — 
| } e * femi-tranfparent, and glow with beautiful dyes of purple, green, and 
tv iilCed^ rea ^* n ° * n concentl 'ic circles from the hem. Their amazing finenefs is 
JWe r ' V ^ en retreat at times into fo froall a tube, fo as no veftige of the 
’• d art ^. :tn b e teen ; and foon, with equal dexterity, the whole fyftem of tentacula 
forth, and fpread uninjured in the element again. 
^he fp • 
**• c j is - les °f coral cluflering on thefe tubes at a and b, and a little magnified 
Prickly, hard, and brittle, varying in colour from a pure white to a dull 
1 yellow, , 
