"
"And what are they?" inquired Willis.
"Insects that live in communities that form a multitude of contiguous
cells; some of these are begun at the bottom of the sea and
accumulated perpendicularly, one layer being continually deposited
over another till the surface is reached."
"Then the coral reefs, that render navigation so perilous in unknown
seas, are the work of insects?"
"Exactly so, Willis."
"Might they not as well consist of multitudes of insects piled heaps
upon heaps?"
"It is in a great measure as you say, Willis."
"Not I--I do not say it--quite the contrary."
"Well, Willis, you are at liberty to believe it or not, as you think
proper."
"I hope so; we shall, therefore, put the polypi with Ernest's stars
and Jack's admirals."
"So be it, Willis; but to resume the subject. There is a remarkable
analogy in many respects between the lower orders of animals and
plants, the bulb is to the latter what the egg is to the former. The
germ does not pierce the bulb till it attains a certain organization,
and it remains attached by fibres to the parent substance, from which,
for a time, it receives nourishment."
"Not unlike the young of animals," remarked Willis.
"When the germ has shot out roots and a leaf or two, it then, but not
till then, relinquishes the parent bulb.
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