600 Radiata. 
STON¥ CORALS. 
The Red Coral, just described, belongs to the section of 
zoophytes called Asteroida by Cuvier, in which the 
surface of the polypidom is fleslvy, and each polypus has 
only eight arms. The polypi which form the massive 
stony corals of the tropical reefs, are furnished with 
numerous tentacles, and resemble in their general confor- 
mation the Sea Anemones which are so well known now- 
a-days as inhabitants of aquaria. The coral consists of 
a deposit of carbonate of lime, and each polypus dwells in 
a cell which exhibits a number of thin stony rays nearly 
meeting in the middle. The masses of coral differ ex- 
ceedingly in size, some consisting of the habitations of 
only two or three polypi, whilst others are the gradual 
production of a vast and constantly succeeding popula- 
tion ; some form branched trees and shrubs of the most 
various and elegant forms, others grow in solid masses, 
but all, when living, present a most beautiful appearance 
from the charming and often brilliant diversity of colours 
with which they are adorned. 
In the Pacific Ocean several of the coral reefs are 
extremely beautiful, and the voyager is astonished with 
the curious and fantastic forms of the various marine pro- 
ductions of which they are composed. ^ heat-sheaves, 
mushrooms, cabbage leaves, with innumerable plants and 
flowers, are vividly represented by different kinds of 
Coral, and glow beneath the water in brilliant tints of 
brown and purple, white or green ; each with a peculiar 
form and shade of colouring, equal in richness and 
variety to the most beautiful productions of the vege- 
table world. Corals and fungi start from between the 
fissures of the rocks ; while large portions of the former, 
in a dead state, connected into a solid mass, of a dull 
white colour, compose the stone-work of the reef. Solid 
masses, termed negro heads, of different dusky hues, and 
generally dry and blackened by exposure to the weather, 
are also occasionally conspicuous. Even these are not 
without ornament, for nature delights in the variety of 
