284 
NATURAL HISTORY 
CORAL. 
The Coral has for a considerable time been 
supposed to be of a vegetable nature, as its 
appearance so much resembles that of a 
plant. It has lately been discovered, how- 
ever, and proved beyond the possibility of 
a doubt, that it is not an inhabitant of the 
vegetable world; but that it is produced by 
small animalcules. When taken out of the 
sea, life immediately becomes extinct, and 
the matter hardens into stone. There arc 
three sorts of Coral, viz., red, white, and 
black: the latter is very scarce; the two 
former more plentiful. 
