There is a skeleton formed in the body of
each of them, like a cup divided by a number of radiating partitions
towards the outside; and that cup is formed of carbonate of lime, only
not stained red, as in the case of the red coral. And all these cups
are joined together into a common branch, the result of which is the
formation of a beautiful coral tree. This is a great mass of
madrepore, and in the living state every one of the ends of these
branches was terminated by a beautiful little polype, like a sea
anemone, and all the skeleton was covered by a soft body which united
the polypes together. You must understand that all this skeleton has
been formed in the interior of the body, to suit the branched body of
the polype mass, and that it is as much its skeleton as our own bones
are our skeleton. In this next coral the creature which has formed the
skeleton has divided itself as it grew, and consequently has formed a
great expansion; but scattered all over this surface there were polype
bodies like those I previously described.
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