PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 805 



the majority as the skeletal support of the colony, ran up the middle of 

 the gastric cavity of the primary polyp, and some authorities regarded 

 it, therefore, as endodermic in origin, whereas the skeletal support of 

 all related forms is ectodermic. Thirdly, the Pennatulids almost always 

 showed a pronounced dimorphism — along with the ordinary polyps or 

 autozooids there were dwarf polyps without tentacles, the siphonozooids, 

 whose office it was to keep currents of water going in the canals of the 

 colony. It should also be noted that there was in Pennatulacea a 

 marked tendency to bilateral arrangement of the polyps, similar to the 

 arrangement of barbs on a feather. 



The President first exhibited a specimen of Antlioptilum thomsoni, 

 which Kolliker had named after Wyville Thomson. It was nearly 

 100 cm. in length, the rachis amounting to 83 cm. With its long 

 purplish-brown polyps and almost massive bulk it presented a very 

 handsome appearance. In this genus there are no pinnules, the auto- 

 zooids arising in numerous short rows on the substantial rachis. The 

 polyps are large and without calices ; the siphonozooids are small and 

 very numerous ; there are no spicules except in the lowest part of the 

 stalk. The specimen exhibited agrees with the description of A. thomsoni 

 given in the ' Challenger ' Report, except that no spicules could be 

 found at the base of the stalk. 



The second specimen shown was the well-known Funiculina quad- 

 rangularis Pallas, a primitive Pennatulid with toothed calices seated 

 directly on the axis, and without true siphonozooids. It is interesting 

 also in its very wide geographical distribution, for it is very common off 

 the West coast of Scotland, and it extends from shallow water to the 

 great abysses. 



The third specimen shown was Pennatula murrayi Kolliker, a 

 delicate and graceful species named after Sir John Murray. One of its 

 features is the presence of a very large siphonozooid at the base of each 

 pinnule. It belongs to a section of the genus characterized by having 

 the dorsal side of the rachis almost free from siphonozooids. Related 

 to Pennatula is the genus Scytalium, which has not distinct calices for 

 the polyps on the margins of the pinnules. Two species were shown, 

 the gorgeous Scytalium splendens Thomson and Henderson, with 

 brilliant red and orange-yellow, over 46 cm. in length, and the very 

 striking pale blue S. tentaculatum Kolliker, 115 cm. in length, with 

 about 170 pairs of pinnules. 



The interest of the collection lay chiefly in the fineness of the speci- 

 mens, the occurrence of some rare forms like Hubrecht's Echinoptilum 

 macintoshi, and the number of species common to Japanese seas and 

 those round our own coasts. 



The President also read two papers by Dr. Gemmill — (1) "Aerator 

 for Small Aquaria " ; (2) " Adaptation of Ordinary Paraffin Baths for 

 Vacuum Embedding." 



Mr. Heron- Allen proposed a very hearty vote of thanks to the 

 President for his paper on Sea-Pens, and for reading Dr. Gerum ill's two 

 communications. He felt that the task of proposing this vote might 

 have been in the hands of someone more fully equipped than he was for 



