Si8 Conjectures concerning 
the Work of little Animah , whilft others main¬ 
tain that they are alt ea-Plants . There 
may be found perhaps of both thefe Kinds : 
but is there not a 1 bird, I mean the fiony 
Corah) whofe Production may be more a- 
kin to that of Minerals, and chiefly owing to 
the Operation of Jaime Particles incorporated 
with Jlony Matter % 
The Rocks in the Sea on which thefe 
Corals are produced, are undoubtedly replete 
with mineral Salts, lome whereof near their 
Surface, being diffolved by the Sea Water, 
mu ft con&qutntly faturate with their faline 
Particles the Water round them to a fmall 
Diftance, where blending with th t * Jlony 
Matter with w T hich Sea Water always a- 
bounds, little Majjes will be conftituted here 
and there and affixed to the Rocks. Such 
adhering Malles may be termed Roots': which 
Roots attracting the faline and ftony Parti¬ 
cles, according to certain Laws in Nature, 
* I call thofe Corals jlony which have a Hardnefs like 
unto Stone ; and would be underllood to mean by fiony Mat¬ 
ter, that Matter which conditutes the Bafts of fuch Corals; 
without any critical Enquiry whether it is or is not different 
frotti that Kind of Matter whereof fome Stones are made. 
Tlx. Woo award fays, ** the true marine Coral is indeed a 
“ ffony Subllance, and of mineral Nature and Origin : the 
conftituent Matter of it is beat off from the Rocks and 
ii Cliffs, (where the Agitation of the Sea is great) borne 
** thence, precipitated and affixed to Rocks, Stones, Shells, 
“ or other Things, where the Water is more ft ill and calm. 
te As it is of the fame Cpnftitution, fo it owes its Solidity 
“ and the Cohefion of its Parts to the fame Caufe that Stones 
* % arid other Minerals do.’* FUJI* FoJJils , Clajs V. Vol.-h 
page izq. 
may 
