Part 24

every — plate, +fand doch ein jeder nach dem ersten Gange zu seinem Erstaunen unter dem Teller einen Wechsel vor+.

for — interest = which was issued (+ausstellen+) for (+auf+) the full amount of the remaining (+rückständig+) debt with (+nebst+) interest.

Section 30.

FORMATION OF A CORAL-ISLAND.

It seems to me, that when the animalcules, which form the corals at the bottom of the ocean, cease to live, their structures adhere to each other, by virtue either of the glutinous remains within, or of some property in salt-water. The interstices being gradually filled up with sand and broken pieces of coral washed by the sea, which also adhere, a mass of rock is at length formed. Future races of these animalcules erect their habitations upon the rising bank, and die, in their turn to elevate this monument of their wonderful labours.

‘that when the animalcules ... cease to live’. This clause may be briefly rendered by saying: ‘that after the death (+Absterben+, n.) of the animalcules’. To translate the last noun, form a diminutive of +Tier+.

+Meeresboden+, m.

‘their — salt-water’. Use the following order of words for rendering this passage: ‘their little houses (dim. of +Haus+) either through the in them contained glutinous remains (+Überreste+) or through some (+irgend eine+) property of the salt-water held together are (Pres. of the Passive Voice)’.

When the =Present Participle= is used to denote a =logical cause= from which we may draw an inference, it must, by the help of the conjunction ‘+=da=+’, be changed into a finite verb, i.e. one with a personal termination, thus:—

The interstices being gradually filled up with sand, a mass of rock is at length formed.

+Da nun die Zwischenräume allmählich mit Sand ~ausgefüllt werden~, so wird aus dem Ganzen endlich eine Felsenmasse gebildet.+

The tense in which the verb is to be used, must always be determined by the context.

and — sea, +und mit vom Meere herangespülten zerbröckelten Korallen+; it is a matter of course that the verbs must follow this passage.

The following generations.

‘to rise’, here +sich erheben+. Present Participles used attributively are inflected like adjectives. Bank = reef.

‘and die — labours’, translate ‘and die to (S. 19, N. 7) contribute also in their turn (+ihrerseits+) to the elevation (+Erhöhung+, f.) of this monument of their admirable work (+Arbeit+, f.)’.

Section 31.

FORMATION OF A CORAL-ISLAND.

II.

The new bank is not long in being visited by sea-birds. Salt-plants take root upon it (S. 4, N. 5, B), and a soil is being formed. A cocoa-nut, or the drupe of a pandanus is thrown on shore. Land-birds visit it and deposit the seeds of shrubs and trees. Every high tide, and still more every gale, adds something to the bank. The form of an island is gradually assumed, and last of all comes man (S. 3, N. 2) to (S. 19, N. 7) take possession.—M. FLINDERS.

The new coral-reef is (S. 2, N. 1) now soon visited by (+von+) sea-birds.

Sea-plants; to take = to strike.

+und so bildet sich eine Erdschicht.+

+die Frucht einer Panane. Die Panane+ (Pandanus) +ist eine Art Palme und wird auch Pandang+ (m.) +oder Palmnußbaum genannt.+

+an+, contracted with the def. art.

it = the same, to agree with its antecedent ‘shore’; to deposit, +zurück´lassen+; seeds, +Same+, m., used in the sing.

still more = especially; adds — bank, +trägt etwas zur Vergrößerung des Riffs bei+.

The latter (+dieses+) gradually assumes (+an´nehmen+) the form of an island. The adv. ‘gradually’ may be made emphatic; see App. § 14.