POLYPIFERA. 



hering to it; sometimes they are fixed to 

 other madrepores by an elongated pedicle, 

 and occasionally, as we learn from a recent 

 author, grow from the substance of the parent 

 zoophyte. His account is as follows : 

 " The specimens of Fungia which I have 

 seen generally lie in hollows of reefs, where 

 they are in some degree protected from the 

 more violent agitation of the sea by the sur- 



Fig. 



rounding portions of branching coral which 

 enclose the hollows, and at the same time 

 allow sea-water free access through their in- 

 terstices. It appears that although the older 

 and larger individuals are quite unattached 

 and present no mark of former attachment, 

 yet that in the young state they are fixed 

 sometimes to rocks, and frequently to the 

 dead remains of their own species ; in this 



39. 



Fungia actiniformis. (After Quay et Gaimard.) 



state they grow upon a footstalk, and gene- 

 rally remain attached till they acquire the 

 size of nearly an inch in diameter, when they 

 separate at the top of the peduncle." 



"At this time the coral, when divested of 

 the fleshy part, shows a circular opening be- 

 neath, through which the radiating plates of 

 the upper surface are visible. In a short 

 time a deposit of coral matter takes place, 

 which cicatrises the opening, the marks of 

 which, however, can be traced for a consider- 

 able time ; at length the increase of this de- 

 posit, which continues with the growth of the 

 animal, entirely obliterates all appearance of 

 it. It will not appear surprising that this cir- 

 cumstance should hitherto have been un- 

 noticed, when it is recollected that it has 

 very rarely occurred to naturalists to visit the 



places of their growth, and that to general 

 collectors the smaller specimens would appear 

 hardly worth the trouble of preserving and 

 bringing home." 



" The sheltered situation in which the FinigifE 

 are found are particularly well adapted to 

 their nature, as they would be liable to injury 

 if they were exposed to the full force of a 

 stormy sea; and the circumstance of their 

 being attached in the young state is a beau- 

 tiful provision of nature for their preservation 

 at that period, as from their light weight, 

 when first developed, they would, if unat- 

 tached, be exposed to great injury, even by a 

 slight agitation of the water. I have also to 

 remark upon this fact, that the Fungise, while 

 attached, agree in every respect with Lamarck's 

 genus Caryophyllia, more especially in their 



D 2 



