185 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Juhe ID, I860. 
stretched tho oval disk with a star of some brilliant colour sur¬ 
rounding a central oriiiee or mouth. On removing this creature 
from the wafer, the animal portion suddenly shrinks, and little 
is visible hut an array of chalky plates standing on edgo and 
radiating from a centre; but on the creature’s regaining its com¬ 
posure, or being troubled by the pains of hunger, a very beautiful 
half-transparent substance is thrust out from between the plates, 
and presently puts forth a number of tentacles, resembling those 
ofthe Sea Anemone, except that each one has a small, globular head. 
Thus will bo seen the close alliance between the Madrepores 
and the Sea Anemones. There is, however, this peculiar distinction 
between them—tho movements of tho latter are voluntary, 
whereas the Madrepores are permanently attached to the rock by 
their stony skeletons. Again, in the Sea Anemones, the la mi me, 
or plates, continue fleshy during tho animal’s life; whilst in tho 
Madrepores they secrete a coating of carbonate of lime, which 
hardens and thickens by degrees, until at last it forms a stony 
cast of the animal. To sum all up, we may regard the corals as 
bony skeletons of Anemone-like Zoophytes, not fashioned by 
mechanical labour like the honeycomb of the bee, but secreted 
within the body of the animals in the Eame manner as bones are 
secreted in the human body. 
Another beautiful Coralline is the Sertularia argeniea (fig. A), 
commonly called tho Squirrel-tailed Coralline, from its some¬ 
what resembling that appendage. “ This species generally grows 
erect,” says Ellis, “ with thick tufts of alternately denticulated 
ramifications placed in a spiral or screw-like order round the 
stem from top to bottom.” This is a very elegant Coralline, and 
grows to nearly a yard in height, and is generally found attached 
to oysters and other bivalves. 
Another remarkable species (fig. B), is the Bottle Brush 
Coralline (Thuiaria Thuia ), “ This,” says Dr. Landsborough, 
“ is a very remarkable Coralline, and it cannot in its mature 
Btate be mistaken for anything else. It is from eight to twelve 
inches in height. The stem is erect, horny, and a little zigzag. 
The alternate branches below fall off and leave the stem naked, 
with only a tuft of branches towards the top, giving it much 
the resemblance of a bottle brush.” 
Madrepores, under certain circumstances, exhibit a remarkable 
faculty of reproducing parts. For instance : new plates will 
replace those accidentally broken, and it has been noticed that in 
a specimen divided perpendicularly, each half of its mouth has 
discharged an independent duty without any manifest incon¬ 
venience. The localities where the Corals may be found, and the 
mode of identifying and securing them, may be gathered from the 
account given by Mr. Gosse, of his search for them. He says— 
“ I searched for some time without success for the Coral, and had 
begun to despair of finding it, for the tide was almost at its 
lowest, when suddenly I caught sight of one projecting from 
under the surfaco of one of the slanting ridges of rock. The 
water would not allow mo to reach it with any hope of detaching 
it uninjured ; but presently I peeped into a small cavern formed 
by large masses of rock piled one against another, in which there 
were nearly a score of them. By a little manoeuvering, I managed 
to squeeze my body between the stones, so as to work with the 
chisel, disregardful of the water which covered my feet below, 
and the coating of mud, the slimy Zoophytes and Sponges that 
adhered to the overhanging rock above me. The Corals varied 
in size from that of a pea to three-quarters of an inchin diameter. 
They were not at all clustered, but scattered at irregular dis¬ 
tances. I observed them to be fixed to perpendicular and over¬ 
hanging surfaces, but in no case on a diagonal or horizontal one 
with an upward aspect, not even in the remotest part of the 
cavern. All that I saw were left exposed by the receding tide, 
though in any but spring-tide, they would all have been con¬ 
stantly covered. I afterwards found a few more on the sides of 
pools, in the rocky ridges, several feet above low water mark.” 
The mode in which the Madrepore feeds is somewhat amusing, 
and it is found capable of displaying great activity and some in¬ 
telligence. If you perceive one beneath the water with its ten¬ 
tacles exposed, and drop a small insect into the water just above 
it, pushing it dowm until it touches the tips of one of the ten¬ 
tacles, you will see tho animal draw it by means of its tentacles 
down within its plates near the inner margin. By tho aid of a 
lens you can further perceive the mouth cautiously open, and 
move over to the side where the prey was captured. The victim 
itself by an almost imperceptible movement is carried forw ard 
between the plates to meet the advancing mouth, winch, how- 
