Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1892-12-13
FORMATION OF CORAL
BOW THE PCLYPS 90 THEIR ST.
LENT YET LASTING WORK.

Ihe Lovely sea Anemones and What Ii
Made from Their skeietons-Polyps
DO Not Toll; They Simply Die-Beau.
tifuI Animal Vegetables.
The term coral insect" survives in
literature, although science discarded il
sDng ago. Possibly the idea of "toilr
and patience" and building for the
3nture," as the lesson taught by the coral
insect, also survives to point moral and
s'1orn tale Of the same order as one
fraising the industry of the ant or the
zee. Alas for old beliefs! Our grand
mothers were exhorted to reflect on the
tanity of the moth and the butterfly.
Now it is known that the moth and
Che butterfly are among the chief agents
by which the most beautiful and fra
grant flowers are fertilized, and that
honey and perfume and color and fruit
largely depend upon the energy of the
fsocts formerly despised. The other
g called insects have no more energy
than siI lcvegetable existence. Their
toil is L. ing greater than dying and
hsvir' l. skeletons behind them.
Pvt bow beautiful are these skeletons,
Or conglomerated accumulation Of
myriads! And how beautiful and inter
<sting. too, the animal vegetables, or
Sather Eov0rlike animals "Sea anem-
Cfns" is &C. popular name given to the
= ole tr with their disklike mouths.
svir pc nd tentacles, their stomach
Fllgg ,u seed vessels and their fixed
L1sgs cHu spending to stout stems, to
say nothing Of their brilliant colors.
fvaling the most gorgeous corollss ever
Blown.
According TO DR.. Gustav Essen, there
gre two kinds Of corals of the sea anem-
one order-those which produce coral,
fnaI is, the hard, calcareous formation,
and those which do not. The popular
Term coral" as applied to the accumu-
Tted dead skeletons Of the dead pol 'ps.
+ not strictly correct: coral, properly
speaking, refers also to the living ami
nhal.
The sea flower, although suggesting a
plantlike structure, is still true ami
tnal 1t has skin, also rudimentary
perves. 1t can seize with its tentacles;
Il can swallow and digest its food and
{hrow out the refuse from its mouth; it
can defend itself from its enemies by
forcibly ejecting poison from its many
sings. 1t has some sensation. Quite a
Dumber of species of polyps have rudi-
ahentary eyes, arranged around their
Circular edges like beads. The hardened
base of the sea flower corresponds to
sskeleton in higher order of animal,
even though in some anemones the hard
ness may only be relative.
Coral animals Of the sea anemone or
der reproduce their kind in several ways.
One is by ova, which develop perfect
polyps within the parent flower. An
other mode Is by budding; still another
ty fssion. In the latter method a new
mouth may form beside the old one in
the center of fringed disk, which then
divides into disks, each surrounded by
its own tentacles and each leading to its
own closed sac. In the budding process
Branches are thrown out, from which
spring new polyps. Tear one polyp to
pieces, and each piece may reproduce
e., the parts it needs to form fresh
polyp.
The familiar tree coral is the result
G. tie Budding process, The branches
below are the dead skeletons, above
which the living polyps have mounted
The singular cOnvulutiOns in brain
coral" were caused by fssion, one mouth
giving rise TO strings of others, which
pever completely separated from each
other, and so left a continuous line of
stony skeletons. 1t must not be sup
posed, however, that zoophytes of the
style of sea anemones are the only coral
producers. Some calcareous secretions
are left by animals related to the me-
duse, or jellyfsh. Other corals come
from the bryozoans, which look like pol
Ups, but really belong to the subking-
dom Of molluslis. The bottom of the
ga is largely covered with deposits from
such animals. 1t is even believed that
In early times they made up the greater
part Of limestone strata. Mention must
also be made of the beautiful and bril-
cs.ruous seaweeds, which look like red,
white and yellow branched coral, but
which, properly speaking, are algae.
Corals Of some kinds are found in all
$500. Tinos5 stony formations popularity
called corals are mostly produced within
Che tropics. Probably the variety best
known is the red or pink coral, long es-
teemed for ornaments. This was found |
In the Mediterranean from very early !
period. Now, however, it has become
30 rare as to be practically extinct.
The specimens of coral seen in mu-
seums and private collections are Of |
course masses of dead skeletons. Hard |
as rock they are, as might be expected,
when it is remembered that the famous
Eeefs of Florida and the Pacific isl nds /
are built up of them-no credit to the /.
animals, however, despite the old tale. ,
Yet if the Anticipated moral be lost, the
gfu1y Of thp palraraoua forno fion 10 |