76 LIFE AND HER CHILDREN. 
and millions in the midst of the wild Pacific, the 
coral animals live and grow. In the midst of winds 
and storms they struggle on, the rough and strong 
builders without, in the open ocean, the more tender 
and delicate ones, with their bright coloured orange, 
crimson, scarlet, and purple tentacles, within the shel- 
tered lagoons ; they all make good use of the weapons 
with which life provides them, and flourish in countless 
numbers, enjoying the warmth of the tropical sea, and 
laying the foundation of solid rocks for ages to come. 
This brings us to the end of our brief sketch of 
the lasso-throwers, of which the sea is so full. Though 
we have scarcely been able to glance even at the 
leading forms, we can understand how they are able 
to maintain their ground in the struggle for life. 
One and all, they sweep the waters with their tiny 
arms, and whether as animal -trees, jelly-fish, ane- 
mones, or corals, multiply in great numbers, and fill 
the sea with beautiful active life. If only as food 
for other animals, they have their great use in the 
world, for the huge whale is greatly dependent for his 
nourishment upon the shoals of jelly-fish which throng 
the Arctic ocean, and many shell-fish and other sea 
animals feed upon the anemones and delicate polypes 
on the sea-bottom. But beyond their use to others, 
is the great fact that they live and flourish themselves ; 
like the rest of Life's children, they crowd into the 
world, and as we watch them during their brief career, 
we cannot but think that there is enjoyment in these 
fragile existences, as they open out so freely and 
eagerly in the depths of the quiet ocean ; and that 
from them, too, rises the silent hymn of praise for the 
gift of life, even if it have its struggles and its dangers. 
V 
