New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-11-07

tba band-there Ia n worm whose locomotive ap-
paratus consists Of tufts OF hne siliceous hairs nj
ranged in rows along the sides When the animal Is
irrtated these brstle out in every direction once
ran my fingers against of these worms III picking
up coral and feeling an intense burning nm gsds az 1
fingers looking like little tufts oil me cropee Miio
silk. But enough of the disd5reedoes lhslue we
reef In about three feet water ana growing Oh s1is
l,lack oOzy bottom. are found clumps OF ahehuer
branching few and large ceed coral locaehaI VI u
dark brown tint, and resembling oo ,ai y'U ;
mnss Old glass bottles iron chains Sticks or UNI
her and stones are coated with coras On inc eaSt-
ern side Of the the water Is very qe, anu ,9
bottom which is unincumbered, 10 ~ ,br o ct
oOze; here / collected, in from TWO 10 IhIeo leeS
water some very pretty corals, OF species
whose name cannot rec0lieGt AZ u 1is coras
with q few continent ana conyoluted cells
These grow over the mud. point uownwtasru, ~
tached to some hard substance, Dut usualy Wy lyy
slightly, so that one picks them up ~ s"p nee whie
pebbles. In the water they resemble pae, w ,l,a
flowers strewed over the bottom. Sometimes tlley
are light emerald tinted hut az soon tuvS the
brought out of the water the animals SHRINK UP. ,e
cojors change and in A few moments they are OF
dull brownish color. Well. L should WANT na ,a
dozen columns if should go ON III lns WY hnt il
ton the many interesting things collected ou. ~
may not be uninteresting to add lew WoIuS on 'no
structure and character of corals: .,oro h,vs
doubt not that very many OF my le 1ea o,, sv
seen the beautiful animal flowers sometimes on "a
bibition in the AQuaria at Barnums museum; Deau.
full marine creatures like animated pinks' NaI.ii
ists call them sea dnenones. ana they pace ,o
and the BODY IL soft but there are other pols which
increase by budding, somewhat like plants anu
which form colonies OF families OF sometimes NUM-
reds of thousands of individuals all of when are
firmly and permanently united together II, eaeh
one OF these animals grows large stony skele'oh
and all the skeletons united together Now et Tue
animals die the compound skeleton remains, presery
ing the shape of the colony or family whe the posi-
ton of the body Of each polyps Is marked ny cen
and bleached is the coral 40 often IA mante
niece ornament. There are very many beautiiul 81,
pcrstitions and fables aioat in popular naInt ,a
history. which, accepted as truth. have be-
come classic, but which one after ah0thei,
have been exploded Such IS tho iaole Oh
the nautilus which to the na.u nnf,Ts no no
broad sails and rides the wave propelled by us many
oars No naturalist believes that coral Islands are
built up mysteriously from the deep abott0i the
work of curious insects just as tho comp Is
the work of the bee He knows that the coral II tho
skeleton Of an animal which is just as different RON
an insect as we ourselves are. He gives no more
credit 10 the coral pOlyp for constructing ms cen
than he accords TO himself for the growth OF ms
bones within him. Still, the islands built slowly I'D
by the accumulation Of dead coral skeletons remain
10 us IA useful lesson ever to teach the Vaiue OF
union and the mighty results to be achieved ny per
severng labor the results OF each manu- vi " liz
stroke as small as that of tho drop patteHng on INC
stone. ,
Long ere IL was time to return to the ship my boat
was uncomfortably full OF my treasures. waning
abont all day in the tepid water with tropical sun
scorching yOur back. may be all very nice ior
while but some fragrant taniaIind trees O,ck2ned
I'm a.
gr,tefni shade and looked over the hillside at the
strange vegetation that met my eye. Among the
Towering shrubs and trees of these islands one sees
the fan-shaped leaves of a pretty little palmetto
Enormous cactuses and prickly pears are scat
tered through the chamber about among the rocks,
while the tall chandelier like Towering stems
aud bayonet-shaped leaves of kind OF century
olaut are very conspicuous. YOndeT is "a grove oil
cocoa-nut palms. while on the outskirts of the town
gliston the huge torn leaves of the banana Strange
insects are hummng about, and brght-eyed lZarus
dart about among the dried leaves.
81. Thomas appeared to be composed OF metamorphc
rocks much disturbed and intersected by trap dykes
On the mainland near tho reef on the seward SIDE
are seen the bluff beds of very hard siliclous rock
which appears to bo n kind of syeDte. The beds have
an opproS innate strike of n. T.. a dip of 25' n w.
The captain aud steward OF the Havana Kindly
furnished ~ with a place for slowing away my speci-
mems in little room the engine and So hot that
they dried Immediately. and my cOrils are preserved
with their natural cOlors
After dark i'm tho evening we weighed anchor aud
turned our tardy Prov once more Bra<lward