. The sea [microform] : its stirring story of adventure, peril & heroism. Adventure and adventurers; Voyages and travels; Ocean; Aventures et aventuriers; Voyages; Océan. THE ANIMAL, sroNdE. ft ' Millions of millions thuM, from ago to iige, With Miiiiiplcst akill and toil unwcaryiiblc, No luoimnt and no movement uiiiinprovud, Laid linu on lino, uad, •ruco terraco p;, briKliti'uin l!y niarvullous htiiitturo climbing to wads tlio day. To hwlII the hciglii in^^ gradual mound, I saw till' living iiilo ast'cnd, The mausoleum of its architctts, Still dyin^f upward as their labour closed. . Frail
. The sea [microform] : its stirring story of adventure, peril & heroism. Adventure and adventurers; Voyages and travels; Ocean; Aventures et aventuriers; Voyages; Océan. THE ANIMAL, sroNdE. ft ' Millions of millions thuM, from ago to iige, With Miiiiiplcst akill and toil unwcaryiiblc, No luoimnt and no movement uiiiinprovud, Laid linu on lino, uad, •ruco terraco p;, briKliti'uin l!y niarvullous htiiitturo climbing to wads tlio day. To hwlII the hciglii in^^ gradual mound, I saw till' living iiilo ast'cnd, The mausoleum of its architctts, Still dyin^f upward as their labour closed. . Frail were their francs, ephemeral their lives, Their masonry imperishable. All Ijife's needful functions, food, exertion, rest, Dy nice economy of Providence Were overr\ilod to carry on the process Which out of water brought forth solid ; And now we arrive at the last of the valuable fisheries in which divers arc concerned— that of the sponge. The ancients recognised the fact that the sponge exhibited vitality, but <vero rather undecided as to whether it should be counted animal or vegetable. Rondelet— the friend of the celebrated Rabelais, whom the merry curate of Meudon designated under the name of RondUAlh—himself a physician and naturalist of Montpellier, long promulgated the idea that these productions belonged (o the vegetable king- dom. Linnajus late in life withdrew the sponges from among the vegetables, for he had satisfied himself, in short, that they fairly belonged to the animal kingdom. Sponges live at the bottom of the sea in 500 to 1/.J50 fathoms of water, among the clefts and crevices of the rocks, always adhering and attaching themselves, not only to inorganic bodies, but even growing on alga; and animals, spreading, erect, or pendent, according to the body which supports them and their natural habit. Figuior tells us that all naturalists are now satisfied of the animal nature of sponges, although they once were thought to represent the
Size: 1328px × 1881px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectocean, booksubjectvoyagesandtravels
