76 
ROOM XT. 
Nat. Hist. 
called from the general resemblance which their corals 
bear to plants. These animals are distinguished from 
all other radiated animals by their bodies being 
soft, and their mouths furnished with a determinate 
number (usually eight) of pinnated or feathered tenta- 
cula, whilst their stomachs have eight intestines, of 
which two are prolonged into the common mass, the 
others ending in the ovaria. They live united together 
in cells of a shelly tubular structure, or imbedded in a 
fleshy or calcareous crust. This class is divided into 
three groups, characterized by the structure of the corals 
which they form. 
In the first family ( Cornicularidce ) the cells of the 
animal are tubular and horny, or fleshy. In one genus 
(Cornicularia) they are long and funnel-shaped, spring¬ 
ing from a creeping base. In others (Telesto and Clavu~ 
laria) they are branchy and fleshy, with eight longitu¬ 
dinal grooves. 
In the second family ( Tuhiporidce ) the cells are cylin¬ 
drical, tubular, placed vertically side by side, at some 
distance from each other, and united together into a 
mass by means of horizontal laminae, arranged at certain 
distances from each other, which are deposited round 
the mouths of the tubes at regular periods. The animal, 
and the coral itself when fresh, are bright green, but 
the coral soon becomes red when exposed to the air. 
The remainder of these animals form and spend their 
lives in a fleshy or calcareous bark, which is often sup¬ 
ported by a fibrous, chalky or bony axis. They consti¬ 
tute three families, dependent on the nature of the axis. 
The first of these families, the Ceratophytes (Co- 
rallidoe ), are distinguished by the axis being branchy 
and solid, and attached to marine bodies by its expanded 
base. 
The genera of this family are distinguished by the 
structure of the axis, and the form and permanence of 
the bark. In the common Red Coral ( Corallium ) the 
axis is continued, solid, and calcareous, and generally of 
a bright red colour, though it is sometimes found white. 
In 
