ii THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



Callozostron rairahilis, Cahjtrophora japonica, and all the species of Spongodes here- 

 after mentioned, so that the work of description was more than duplicated. Mr. G. West 

 was able to figure in 1882 some of the more remarkable species that were easily isolated 

 from the mass ; for the remainder, it required hours of careful patient labour to dis- 

 entangle them the one from the other, before any attempt at description could be thought 

 of. The complete assortment of the tangled series of forms preserved in these tin cases 

 would have required a large amount of store bottles and space not always at disposal ; it 

 was not attempted and so it is possible that some few fragments of species in these tin 

 cases may have escaped detection, but it is hoped that few if any have eluded the several 

 searches made. 



The work just alluded to occupied the summer of 1883, but all work on the collection 

 had to cease (owing to a family affliction) during the year 1884 and the early part of 

 1885, when, with the sanction of Dr. Murray, Professor Th. Studer, M.D., of Bern, kindly 

 consented to join Professor E. P. Wright in the completion of the Report. Antecedent 

 to this event, the preliminary notice of the collection of Alcyonaria, published in the 

 Narrative of the Voyage, had been printed, so that the species therein referred to had 

 to bear by priority of publication the name of but one of the Reporters. 



The work of description now proceeded quickly, but a great delay arose from the time 

 and care necessary for the drawing and lithographing of not only the many new species 

 in the second series of specimens, but also of the spicules of the whole of the forms 

 described. This work was undertaken, under the supervision of Professor Studer, by 

 Mr. Armbruster, of Bern. 



In any joint work carried on by workers residing at so great a distance from one 

 another as Dublin is from Bern, the difficulties of preserving uniformity of treatment 

 must of necessity be great ; and although one of us resided for a considerable time in the 

 autumn of 1885 in Dublin, and the other has had several opportunities at Bern for consul- 

 tation with his colleague, still we do not flatter ourselves that our Report will be mistaken 

 for the symmetrical composition of a single author, but as it is our wish that we should 

 together bear any credit for what may have been done well, so it is also our desire to 

 bear in willing partnership the blame of any errors of commission or omission that may 

 be detected in the following pages. The task of investigating the species already 

 described was often an extremely difficult one, and it has seemed to us that there was no 

 limit to the erroneous and imperfect accounts given by some writers on the group. 



That we are in some measure satisfied with the accuracy of our determinations is in 

 gT-eat measure due to the fact of our having visited the principal Museums of Europe, 

 wherein collections of Alcyonaria were to be found. The Museums at Paris, Berfin, 

 Erlangen, and Turin were visited by Professor E. P. Wright, with the permission of Dr. 

 Murray, whilst at other times those of the British Museum, Bern, Zurich, &c., were also 

 inspected. 



