>78 
THE MEDITERRANEAN 
with the eggs lying at the bottom; indeed, it 
would not be too great a stretcli of imagination to 
suppose that it represented the nest of a tiny hum- 
ming-bird. The sponges, too, which spring up in 
an almost endless variety of forms, supply us with 
many typical examples. Thus, the “bird’s nest” 
sponge (Labaria hemispheric, a) closely resembles 
the actual nest of a bird, not only in form, but in 
the loose texture of the interior. Two other allied 
sponges, Halteria Carpenteri and Pheronemn 
Grayi , are each of this type. Another of the spoil 
ges, Spongia infundibulum, is fashioned on simi- 
lar lines to those of the coral, Turbina, ria crater, 
both being funnel-shaped. A number of sponges 
and corals also occur of cup-like or variform si ape 
which are by no means rare, and each of these 
two groups often exhibits bottle-shaped, calabash 
and pod-like variations. It does not always follow, 
as a natural consequence, that resemblances be 
tween one living from and another should only 
arise in closely-allied groups; thus we have the 
following examples selected from the gorgonids:— 
Pterogorgia , pinnata , petechizans , <&>■. which re- 
semble the plumes of a bird. 
Again, the Paragorgia arbor ea (a northern form 
of Gorgonid) closely resembles a piece of ginger; 
whilst the Rhyl logorgia dila ta ta h as 1 1 1 e external 
form of an oak leaf, and the dainty Xiphogorgia 
anceps in its growth might be compared to some 
of the narrow leaved ferns. 
The narrow, clavate stems of almost any spe- 
cies of the coral genus Seriatopora have represen- 
tative types in the genus C lav aria , a fungus. 
Another form of fungus is so translucent that, in 
general appearance, it could serve to place side by 
side with some species of floating, jelly, -fish, such 
as Aurelia , ( Ihrysaora , or Rhysostoma. The large 
masses of semi-circular coral, known as “brain- 
stones,” are very much like the labyrinthic mean- 
dering markings of the brain. Again, one of the 
lowest order of corals, Millepora alcicornis — so 
named from the numerous small pores that dot 
its surface — has several resemblances. It resem- 
bles, in the first places, the palmated horns of the 
elk, and almost every species of deer could find a 
small set of horns similar to its own amongst the 
varieties occurring on the rocky sea shore where it 
is found. Stylaster is another very beautiful genus 
of coral, which, if it were not for its brilliant co- 
lours, we might place near the prickly gorse bush. 
Lophoseris, with its rounded, lobed, and radiated 
branches is by no means unlike the polyperi of 
our trees. Two other forms, Prim.noa and Ca.li- 
gorgia might be compared with the light and Open 
work in the feathers of the heron or egret. 
Antipathies is also much like those last mentioned, 
but partakes more of the appearance of stiff, bu- 
shy, and shiny shrubs. The red coral ( Corallum 
rubrum) resembles a strong, thick repeatedly-bran- 
ched red tree, the tips of its branches being pecu- 
liarly sharp pointed. 
Certain corn 
ds have the 
margin 
1 tl 
leir orifices 
sharp, meeting 
' at various 
angles- 
— fill 
ich 
as may be 
seen in the Pi 
topi ust f'(( f 
7/ — 
- q 
plan which 
is repeated in 
t lie sponge 
Tuba /, 
mdcheri 
ft i 
a. Another 
coral type, D< 
\choc vnia j 
•im< 
7, 
consist of a 
series of unite* 
rl 
LI HI U< /n, I let 
wing tin 
g n 
iar 
gin of the 
apertures rour 
ided as if f( 
>lded in 
war 
■ds, 
and a very 
similar group * 
of Z ornithic 
Is is f oi 
unil 
c> occur in 
the genus Pat 
ytlioa. 
Numerous e 
xamples mi 
ght be j 
rrjv( 
of the long 
slender-branch 
LOCI S|)On£fG.> 
; but 1 ’ 
will 
or 
ilv mention 
a few of the L 
>est known 
i ns tan 
CCS 
I he fresh- 
\ water S pong-ilia flumat il< <, occurring in the canals 
j and ponds near Liverpool, and the Jlalichandtia 
oculata (a species found in the Mersey). 
Trees have also representative forms in a group 
, of corals named Dendrophyllia, amongst which 
I are the Mediterranean scented coral Dendrophy- 
! ha rcbinum and the black coral P. nigrescens. r l hat 
marvel of beauty, Madrcpura erhianata, and seve- 
| ral species in the genus Oeulina , are tree-like in 
i form. Gup-shaped corals, sponges, Ac., are com pa - 
I ratively common; one of the largest, as well as the 
j best known species is Neptune’s Gup-sponge. Fan- 
I shaped corals and sponges are not so numerous, 
i the former being usually rather small, but they 
j form an interesting group for the student. The 
i Chinese Flahellum pavoninurn, or peacock’s-tail 
! coral, and the following sponges — Spongia Jla hel- 
ium and flag el l if or mis, are representatives. In 
the Zoanthid series we find some remarkable 
specimens, one of which- the Rmtilla Americana 
— has all the appearance of a fungus with the stem 
placed in a side slit, of the pileus. Those very re- 
markable objects, the Sea-pens, resemble — as their 
name implies— a b unt quill with its side feathers. 
Although we may not be able to say that cer- 
tain generic groups always possess any striking 
likeness to each other, still, the following resem- 
blance in the mode of supplying the progeny who 
live in closely-allied groups is interesting. The 
shells of a certain genus of stationary mollusca, 
the, Yenagoda. are perforated on one side from top 
to bottom, so that the water m iy pass into the 
tubes of the animal without its being compelled 
to crawl out. In the coral genus, Distichopora , an 
external and perforated slit performs the same 
office; that is, it conveys water and food without 
the necessity of moving from its house. Another 
coral, the prickly Echinophora, won 1 d well compare 
with of the cactus tribe; - the circular depres- 
sions in the plant, surrounded with radiated, 
needle-like spines, are by no means dissimilar 
from these in the coral. I do not think that these 
pines, either in the coral or the plant, may be 
viewed as defensive weapon s, because the coral 
has as many holes bored in i by its enemies as 
most other corals have, and the cactus plant suf- 
fers quite as much from the animals which feed 
upon it as most other plants do. 
We can hardly regard this subject in the light 
of “Mimicry”; at all events, it seems impossible to 
