Again, when this great cup
was alive, the whole surface was covered with a beautiful body upon
which were set innumerable small polype flowers, if we may so call
them, often brilliantly coloured; and the whole cup was built up in the
same fashion by the deposit of carbonate of lime in the interior of the
combined polype body, formed by budding and by fission in the way I
described. You will perceive that there is no necessary limit to this
process. There is no reason why we should not have coral three or four
times as big; and there are certain creatures of this kind that do
fabricate very large masses, or half spheres several feet in diameter.
Thus the activity of these animals in separating carbonate of lime from
the sea and building it up into definite shapes is very considerable
indeed.
Now I think I have said sufficient--as much as I can without taking you
into technical details, of the general nature of these creatures which
form coral. The animals which form coral are scattered over the seas
of all countries in the world.
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