Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-11-09
THE CORAL Banks OF cEyLoN.

Each individual coral may well be com.
pared to flower and each group of coral
branches to plant, tree, or bush. In.
deed, the belief that coral was vegetable
gI>wth was formerly universal, and it was
long before tfe-idea of itsI anillalfasiSin
gained general acceptance. IAN enhancing
and truly fairy like view of these marvel
GUS coral banks may be had from boat
during ebb tide, when the 8 % is calm. In
the immediate neighborhooll of the fort of
Gale the water is crystal clear, and so
shallow that the keel of the boat some
times CRATES against the cord, and the out
lines of the branches can lie distinguished
even from the walls of the fort above. A
great variety of the most b sautiful and re.
markable polypi are here &C nprised within
very small space, and before many days
were over l had amassed large collection.
Mr.. Scott's garden, which he had kindly
placed at my disposal for dying purposes,
presented a very remarkable appearance
during the days OF my stay at Queens
House. The lovely tropical plants seemed
to be competing for the prize of beauty
with the strange marine creatures which
had usurped their domain, and the de.
lighted naturalist wandered up and down,
feasting his eyes now on the one and now
on the other, uncertain as to which should
carry off the palm. 1t was impossible not
to be struck by the similarity in form be.
tween the polypi and many Of the garden
plants; and the orchids and spice lilies
were, in their turn, hardly distinguisha5le
from insects. 1t was as though the two
great kingdoms of the organic world init
mated their desire to change places.
The rnatoritu nf tho CORAL ,rbiob oil
lected in Gale, and afterwards in Bellige-
man, was obtained by divers. These l
found quite as skillful and enduring as the
Arabian divers had employed nine years
before at Tur. Armed with an iron stake,
they loosened large blocks of coral from
their foundation and raised them with
great dexterity into the boat. Many of the
blocks weighed from fifty to eighty pounds,
and it cost no little trouble and care to
deposit them safely. Some of the most
beautiful varieties are so brittle that they
break with their own weight when taken
out of the water, and cannot by any posi-.
bility be preserved entire.
The full beauty of the coral banks can
not be seen from above, even though the
water be so shallow that the points of
coral scrape the keel of the boat. Not pos
oSoSAn5 q uiFiu5- uSii, ledTueu Win ILLle
practice to swim to the bottom with my
eyes open, and most marvellous were then
the effects of the mystic green light in
which the submarine world was bathed, so
different from the rosy light of the upper
air. The forms aud movements of the
swarms OF animals peopling the coral banks
were doubiy curious and interesting thus
seen.
A multitude of curious fishes, crabs.
snails, mussels, star-tish, etc., feed on the
coral insect, upon which they make their
dwelling, and these coral eaters-which
may be classed among the parasites-bave
acquired the most abnormal forms and
weapons of defense and aggression, in the
course OF their adaptation to their peculiar
mode of life. But not without risk does
the naturalist venture among the coral
groves. The 0ceanide, guardians of the
treasures of the deep, warn off the rash in.
truder In thousand ways. The fire. coral
(NiHepord) and the Meduse swimming
among them burn, when touched, like the
worst of singing nestles, and the floating
stings OF many Synanceid are as painful and
dangerous as those of the scorpion. Then
the nip of crabs, large and small, is a peril
by no means to be despised. Black sea-
urchins (Diadena) bore their long barbed
stings into the flesh of the foot, where they
break off and remain, inhicting painful and
dangerous wounds. But the worst of all
injuries to the skin are inflicted by the
coral rocks themselves. The myriads of
hard points aud edges with which they
are armed infiict numberIess wounds on
the hands which attempt to uproot them
Professor Haeckel in Rundschau.