which are arranged upon the central tables of the saloon. To explain
the presence of coral in the midst of a zoological collection it is
necessary to remind the visitor that this beautiful substance, which
is chiefly a deposit of carbonate of lime, is also the fossil remains
of that animal known to zoologists as the polypus. These polypi put
forth buds, which remain attached to the parental polypus, and
generate other buds; and in this way countless polypi, linked
together, yet maintaining a separate and distinct existence, spread
themselves over miles and miles of submarine rocks, in endless
varieties of shape, and leave their remains to be dredged by the hardy
fisherman, for the adornment of beauty. These beautiful polypi
skeletons cluster in curious formations, as the visitor will perceive
on examining the fine collection of corals before him.[1] Among the
remarkable coral formations to which the general visitor's attention
may be directed, are the sea-mushroom, the remains of a single polypus
of great size; the brainstone, which presents a circular mass of long
winding cells, and altogether has the appearance of the masses and
veins of the brain; the sea-pen, and the sea-fan. In the cases, ranged
together in the saloon, the visitor who feels interested in the
infinite varieties of coral formation, will find specimens that-will
give him a full idea of the architectural abilities of the active
zoophytes that carry on their operations upon the rocks that lie not
far below the surface of the ocean. From the coral tables, the
visitor's way lies out of the Mammalia Saloon to the north, into a
gallery of which all Englishmen who understand the value of a perfect
museum, are justly proud.