Show FORMATION OF CORAL HOW THE POLYPS DO THEIR SILENT YET LASTING WORK tio tho lovely sea anemones An emones and I 1 Is made from their skeletons do not 1011 olli they simply die beautiful animal vegetables the term coral insect survives in literature although science discarded it long ago possibly the idea of toil and patience and building for the future as the lesson taught by the coral insect also survives to point a moral amoral and adorn ft title of the same order as one praising the industry of the ant or the bee alas for old belief sl sI our grandmothers were exhorted to reflect on the vanity of the and the butterfly now it is known that the moth and the butterfly are among the chief agents by which the most beautiful and fragrant flowers are fertilized and that honey and perfume and color and fruit largely depend upon the energy of the insects formerly despised the other so called insects have no more energy than a simple vegetable existence their toil is nothing greater than dying and leaving their skeletons behind bechini them but how beautiful are these skeletons or a conglomerated accumulation of myriad sl anil and liow how beautiful and interesting too the animal vegetables or rather animals sea anem conw ones is the popular name given to tho the whole tribe with their mouths their tentacles their stomach suggesting seed vessels and their fixed bases basea corresponding to stout stems to say nothing of their brilliant colors rivaling 0 the most gorgeous co rollas ever blown according to dr gustav eisen there are two kinds of corals corald of the sea anemone order those which produce coral that is the hard calcareous formati formation ont and those which do not the popular term coral as applied to the accumulated dead skeletons of the dead polyps is not strictly correct coral properly speaking refers also to the living animal the gea flower although suggesting a plantlike structure is still a true animal it has a skin also rudimentary nerves it can seize with its tentacles it can swallow and digest its food and throw airow out the refuse from ita y 1 I 6 can defend itself from its enemies ly by forcibly ejecting poison from its many stings it has some sensation quite a number of species of polyps have rudimentary inen tary eyes arranged around their circular edges like beads the hardened base of the sea flower corresponds to a skeleton in a higher order of animal even though in some an emones the hardness may only be relative coral animals of the sea anemone order reproduce their kind in several ways one is by ova which develop perfect polyps within the parent flower another mode is by budding still another r by fission in the latter method a new mouth may form beside the old one in the center of a fringed disk which then divides into disks each surrounded ty by its own tentacles and each leading to it 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 all the parts it needs to form a fresh polyp the familiar tree coral is the result of the budding process the branches below are the dead skeletons above which the living polyps have mounted the singular convolutions in brain coral were caused by fission one mouth giving givin grise rise to strings of others which never completely separated from each other and so left a continuous line of stony skeletons it must not be supposed however that zoophytes of the style of sea an emones are the only coral producers some calcareous secretions are left by animals related to the medusa dewor or jellyfish other corals corald como come from tile bryozoans ns which look like pol aps but really belon belong to tho the subkingdom of mollusks the bottorof bottom of the sea is lar largely izely covered with deposits from such animals it is even believed that in early times they made up the greater part of limestone strata mention must also bo made of the beautiful and bril biant coral lines or vegetable corals corald calcareous seaweeds which look like red white and yellow branched coral but which properly speaking are algae corals corald of some kinds are found in all I 1 seas those stony formations popularly called corals corald are mostly produced within the tropics probably the variety best known is the red or pink coral long esteemed for ornaments this was found foun d in the mediterranean from a very early period now however it has become so rare as to be practically extinct the specimens of coral seen in museums 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 reefs of F lorida florida and the pacific islands are built up of them no credit to the animals however despite the old tale yet if the antiquated moral be lost the study of the calcareous formation is none the less interesting there is the fungus coral a dull gray in color and shaped somewhat as the umbrella of a mushroom with avith ridges running f from row the long mout blike center to the edge the lace coral of a pure white with delicate wheels indicates the radiate structure of each animal when alive the frost coral just as dainty d anty as its popular name implies shows a 11 mossy grove of tiny upright spires the organ pipe coral is a tree form with smooth round nearly perpendicular cular branches perhaps the museum also contains specimens of fossil coral from the deserts of arizona or mississippi ippi i I 1 valley are you yon surprised to learn that li a a great a t part of our continent is antle r 1 tilda w with rit h corals corald produced thousands of years ago by animals long extinct in many of these dull brown formations can still be traced the radiate character of the skeletons san francisco chronicle does not dring bring senator stanford is the reputed possessor of dy by his own estimate it will bo be trebled in three years ho he has made it all and life is approaching the end of its activity he was wag asked this question does wealth give happiness no he answered with promptness shaking 0 his head slowly happiness after tho the ordinary comforts of life are possessed does not belong to any post rank or condition great wealth involves immense care it is care that kills it is caro care that put me in in my condition if wealth is intelli 1 gently used there may come a certain happiness from its bestowal then why this incessant rush after wealth bread and butter is the first essential of life that is the first necessary stimulus to labor then men work hard that they may enjoy the surplus fruits of labor with our standards of living and the products of civilization a little does not satisfy as a sufficient surplus the natives of panama who can count but ten will labor hard to reach that goal of acquirements acquire ments menti but that accomplishment satisfies why are successful americans seldom satisfied unless increasing wealth already great activity has become a habit they are accustomed to living faster than anywhere else in the world many men too are not yet educated to enjoy anything but the struggle itself that education though will come in time 17 new york world |