Coral in
general.
corals: thefe maffes are fomewhat gritty on the exterior, but, within
almoft as compact as ivory.*' Of the fame kind, are fomeiwithlarger
tubes, found, as wellas I canrecolfeétïonthe fea-fhore near Penrjs m
•SitbüÉYi- in; the fame bay;'1 I ieamnot help adding here the'torus
Italianjicoral, but found
in our Teas. This'rare cbral; Plate -xxrvr Fig; i f wasbaken top
by a fifherman at the Polè-bank, which lies. twoTeagues^Touth^weit
o f Gilftbne, Scilly f at the fame place was found'.the thincliprlike
Efcbara,’ ïÜ g .x&which -is the1mlleporaRetepsrd. EJhkara marina
of Ellis-, Plate xxx.i«/, page'5.3;. - ? •'< f „
A ll thefe, as well as the corallines before-mentioned, and the loifil
corals alfo (fuch as-the brain-ftóne anduthe-like, ofewhich Cornwall
yields none that have reached my notice) are.-radioally compofedof
the fame fubftanCe; all {hellsalfo (as well o f land^animals of the tefta-
ceous kind, as of fifties), theeggs-of èirds, :and even the .pearl itfelf are
but finer pieces of workmanfhip of the fame materials, raifiug the lame
effervefcence with aqua ^rrto,;>butjoftoiferdnttgolot®s, different degrees
of purity and confiftence, and different ftiapes.. It may-toot be
amifs therefore to trace this fubmarine general sontpoft, as Tax, as it
is found in fea-produ<aions, through Tomeiofdts/ in^ff obvjou&me-T
tamorphofes. Coral is a calcareous fubftance, fparry ^more or lefs)
and argillaceous, partly extracted by the fea froim th e^ r^ ^ ^hich
it wafhes, and partly owing to the putrefa^on and diffólution of
the parts of dead animals, chiefly ofitheteftaQeous ikmdc In its
moft mirmtp ftate, it nourilhes lea-plants and animals; itTurnifhes
a glue and earth to the teftaceous fifties, enabling them to form;their
own fhells : as it floats in the waves in a fefs diluted and. pulpy
ftate, it is fometimes bom up by tempefts, ; and'dilperfedidler the
face of the groimd, either byiitsTalt and. hmyparticles, warming
and fertilizing both com and pafture'; or fixing and concretingfthe
land of the fea-lhore into ftone \ When larger affociations are
formed, they are precipitated by their own weight, and the impulfe
o f the lea-water: what fubfides thus, i f it meets nothing in its
defcent, refts as a fediment in the moré Iheltered parts of the bottom
of the lea; if it fixes in its way down, it ferves as a balls for
other nubecula of the lame fort to form themfelves upon, arrefting the
little bead-like calcareous liibftances which come within its fphere.
Hence fome of the incruftations on Hones and fea-wracks; for it is
plain that coral, when unimpregnated with adtive lalt, feed, or egg,
mull fix like earth in a humble proftrate pofition, as an incruftation
only, Fig. 11. Plate x x iv ; if agitated by the waves, then it folds itfelf
into a Lichen-like foliage, as Fig. in. ibidem; if, whilft it fvvims
" Ellis, page 71» v ? w See page S4. x Page before, 95.
at
at largo it .:aod-coate them round
as we find by the fea fans?,; but if this - fliell isj not the plain confe-
quence of the adhasfion -..only -.; of thefe particles, 'but the work; of
animals, and is accumulated . round them by millions of fea-rinfedlsi
i$hich fix their fhells fi> dipfepo.on?; .another' as to form, a compleat
gafe togjjjie braöphed fiabHancewhich^they inclofe, it is much more
to.ibe, admirèd^ff'-i^llfo'k^-upraayfeeds^we-.catoieafily imagine that
by its fertilizing nature, it may- feed, expand, and rtoomriflx .thefe
feeds into moflfecand. dorallipesi;. if it toneet&with, tiiecovaria of > in-?
||||s,•;i t £@it - them I ten gyowiiltK; and -a fliell afterwardsf.
(jwhiöhbmay..ppffibly.)be<i formed ,by themfelves.) where^ they
alternately hid^tshemfelveST(k»fefety,< andwhetoee .they extends theifo-
. fejLy%f©js nounflament.. Of the: fprig-teorafi.j f i f it beenot the fabriek
of agimals, asijfoine. learned ' men eomtend)'i-.its branch-like lhape,
though fo knotty and fhortt{ vftemmed, a may - be owjmgrtoil vegetation
(asffrom its figurefis. ujhaHy Tufpedied)^-but if, according , to others,
itgrows only | by. f ju x t’a^po^tion^. thefe flioito ferns are;nolledi into; a
b f r i t i t o 5; ; beforectheir foft
jelly parts are hardened,'.then: knotted; together, andtheir interftices
filled more or-,lefs in proportion, to the quantity o f coral with which
^eychapoed, .të^dpiisg^4lV;I tootsnot lift m thkidiipute,, b u tw h e th e r
in juftice to the- gentlemen .«fho • think corals;» the, fahrick of animals;*
I mqfb obfetye, that the efcharae, Plate xxiv.;Fjg. vi. and- viti.fthoVanimais.
curled and folded in fiich a leaf-like manner, are no more (as it
fflÊÊfs-Wörnë) than thin, .and very orderly aflèmblages of. the fhells
animalcules j the fafciated coralr at its firft beginning is no more
than fo many tubular; (heaths or fhells of infeifts; they are connected
gradually by other infedts which ftretch their coatings in tranfverfc
lines? .from tube to tube, gradually filling up the {paces between,
as in Plate xxvn. Figure. vii ; and in time this .bundle of, {heaths
is formed into d folid cofklloid aftroitè, where the firft and largeft
tubes fÖU appear, With'1 their openings' afterifked as in madre-
pord ports ft'ellatis of Linnaeus (Syft. Nat." Tab. vi. Figure vm).
The lubipora (Fig. v i i . ibid.) confifts of fmaller tubes placed
clofer together and connected, formed cylindrically by a fmaller and
different animal. The Millepora (Fig. ix. ib.) is pierced with holes,
and fcarce vifible to the naked eye; the tubes probably of more
diminutive infeös; ahd our hifprig and branch-coral ^may -pof-
fibly be the fabriek of {till fmaller creatures, though to. the eye no
more than imperfeét, uninformed vegetables. I would obierve farther;
that the teftaceous animalcule which proceeds out of the balanus
fliell', (Linn®, ib. Fig. iv.) has fixteen legs or claws jointed
i Lhuyd’s ]Uthoph. N®. 104.
Q^qq or