II 



tør derfor vivre tilgiveligt, om Arbeidet i flere Henseender 

 bliver mangelfuldt. Den Hjælp, jeg havde ventet mig af 

 min nu afdøde Ven og Medarbeider. Dr. Johan Koren, 

 svigtede. Allerede for henved 4 Aar siden blev han som 

 Folge af en Hjerneapoplexie lammet i hoire Arm og syg- 

 nede efterhaanden hen. saa at han intet Arbeide egentlig 

 kunde udfore fra den Tid. 



I systematisk Henseende har jeg væsentligst fulgt 

 H. Milne-Edwards System i ..Histoire naturelle de Coral- 

 liaires", der i sit Princip forekommer mig at være baade 

 naturligt og hensigtsmæssigt, omendskjont jeg vel har ind- 

 seet,= at] det trænger til en gjennemgaaende Omordning 

 lor ret at tilfredsstille Tidens Krav. Men jeg mener, at 

 førend Alcyoniderne have været underkastede en gjennem- 

 gribende Revision paa Basis af den nyere Forskning med 

 dens Hjælpemidler, og førend et større og nyere Material 

 er tilveiebragt, vil ethvert Forsog paa at forandre den 

 systematiske Ordning af Alcyonidernes Familie kun være 

 et Lapværk. Ser man blot hen til Slægten Alcyonium, 

 saa kan den i Sandhed betragtes som en Samlekasse, 

 hvori mange, temmelig heterogene Dyr inden Familien ere 

 blevne henkastede, uden at man har holdt sig til de for 

 Slægten opstillede Karakterer. 



Jeg har fundet det nødvendigt at benytte de anato- 

 misk-histologiske Fund som Hjælpemidler til Bestemmelsen 

 saavel af Slægter som Arter; udelukkende at hegge dem 

 til Grund for en systematisk Inddeling har jeg ikke trostet 

 mig til, da Materialet dertil ei har været omfattende nok. 



Saavel Spiklernes Form som deres Anordning og 

 Lokaliseren har jeg benyttet ved Diagnoserne; de have 

 afgivet baade for Slægter og Arter, væsentligst for de sidstes 

 Vedkommende, ret gode Karakterer, og de ville faa en 

 endnu større Betydning som karakteristiske Kjendetegn, efter- 

 haanden som Studiet af Alcyonidernes Familie fremmes i 

 den Retning. Undersøgelserne ere jo meget møisommelige, 

 men de lonne sig dog tilsidst. 



Saavidt mig bekjendt har der hidtil ikke været paa- 

 vist noget Nervesystem hos Alcyoniderne, og hvad jeg med 

 Hensyn hertil har fundet, er jo langtfra noget udtømmende, 

 — det er kun Antydninger til et Nervesystem, som frem- 

 tidige Undersøgelser paa levende Dyr nok vil komplettere. 

 Kun hos en Slægt og det kun hos en af dens Arter, 

 nemlig Væringia mirabilis, har det lykkedes mig at paa- 

 vise paa den øverste Del af Svælgets Bugfiade en Gruppe 

 store Ganglieceller med en protoplasmarig Udløber, og 

 under disse, særegne mindre, runde, klare Celler, samt 

 yderst tine Fibriller, der alt synes at tilhøre Nerveappa- 

 ratet. se Side 7. 



Paa samtlige de Arter, jeg har undersogt, har Svælg- 

 røret (Øsophagus) paa dets indvendige Side, langs Bug- 

 fiaden, en Grube, tapetseret med lange Pidskeceller. 

 Alcyoniderne synes med Hensyn hertil at nærme sig 

 Zoanthideme. der heller ikke har mere end en Svælg- 

 grube, imedens som bekjendt Actinierne have to. Hos en 

 Slægt tindes en særegen Differentieren af Svælgrøret. hvor- 



alcohol, and it it may therefore be pardoned if the work, 

 in several respects, is faulty. The assistanee I had hoped 

 to reeeive, from my lately deceased friend and collaborateur 

 Dr. Johan Koren, failed me. Already. nearly four years 

 ago. he experienced a shock of paralysis which deprived 

 him of the use of [the right arm. and he gradually faded 

 away, so that. from that time. he had not been able to 

 undertake any real work. 



In regard to system. I have principally followed that 

 of H. Milne-Edwards in ..Histoire naturelle de Coralliaires" 

 which, in its principle, appears, to me. to be both natura! 

 and serviceable; although I have been w ell aware that it 

 requires a thorough rearrangement in order to satisfy 

 modem requirements. But I am of opinion that. until 

 the Aleyonids have undergone a radical revision on the 

 basis of subsequent research, and the assistanee it affords; 

 and until a more abundant and newer material has been 

 obtained; every attempt to alter the systematic arrange- 

 ment of the family of the Alcyonida will only Vie a patch- 

 work. If we only look at the genus Alcyonium. it may 

 truly be regarded as a repository in which many rather 

 heterogeneous animals of the family have been placed, 

 withbut the characteristics established for the genus being 

 adhered to. 



I have found it necessary to make use of the ana- 

 tomo-histological discoveries as aids in the determination 

 both of genera and species, but I have not ventured to adopt 

 them. exclusively. as the basis of a systematic arrange- 

 ment, as the material has not been sufficiently comprehensive. 



I have employed in the diagnoses, both. the form 

 of the spicules, as well as their arrangement and localis- 

 ation; they have given, both for genera and species. but 

 principally in respect of the last-named. particularly good 

 characteristics, and they will obtain a still greater impor- 

 tance as characteristic features, according as the study of 

 the family of the Alcyonida becomes advanced in that 

 direction. The observations are. indeed. very troublesome 

 but they eventually repay themselves. 



So far as I am aware, there lias not. vet. been 

 shown any nervous system in the Aleyonids. and wliat I 

 have found in regard to this is, indeed, far from exhaustive; 

 it is only an indieation of a nervous system which future 

 examinations of living animals will certainly complete. 

 Only in one genus, and only in one species of that, viz. 

 Væringia mirabilis, have I been tortunate enough to point 

 out. on the uppermost part of the ventral surface of the 

 gullet, a group of large ganglial cells with a prolongation 

 rich in protoplasm, and under these. peculiar, smaller, 

 round, pellucid cells. and extremely slender tibrils, which 

 all appear to belong to the nerve-apparatus, vide pag. 7. 



In all the species I have examined, the gullet-passage 

 (æsophagus) had. on its internal side along the ventral 

 surface, a cavity (groove) coated with long rlagelliform-cells. 

 The Aleyonids appear. in regard to this to approach tire 

 Zoantids, which also have not more than one gullet-groove 

 whilst as is well known the Actiniæ have two. In one 

 genus, a peculiar differentiation of the gullet-tube is found 



