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quincnncial order, covering the polyps with eight claws. In length they vary 

 from five inches to one or two feet or more. In some the stony joints are 

 longer and the black horny joints very short ; in others the black horny joints 

 are longer but always more contracted. The coral spreads its base on rocks by 

 various turnings and windings both of its bony and Heshy part, and likewise as 

 it rises we find it enclosing shells and other extraneous substances, that stick to 

 it, like the Gorgonias." To Ellis and Solander we are also indebted for the only 

 figures of this species showing the coenenchyma. These are reproduced by 

 Esper and supplemented by fine figures of the skeleton. 



In 1821 Lamouroux specifies it as follows : " Branched, branches few 

 in number ; cortex thick ; polyps not having protruding verrucee ; axis 

 articulated, nodes calcareous, with irregular longitudinal striations, internodes 

 horny ". 



The new edition of Lamarck, in 1836, practically adds nothing to the des- 

 cription, but emphasises Ellis and Solander's points thus : " Cortex thick, non- 

 prominent verrucas, polyps with eight tentacles (claws) ". Ten years later Dana 

 referred to this species several specimens from the East Indies, but does not in 

 any way give more precision to the diagnosis. 



The next and last reference to newly-collected and authentic specimens is 

 made by Milne-Edwards and Haime, who, in 1857, thus defined the species 

 from specimens collected at Amboina : " Colony large and branched, branches 

 elongated, almost straight ; calcareous nodes subcylindrical, elongated, two or 

 three times longer than broad, with sinuous striations ; internodes very short 

 and horny ". In 1865, however, Kblliker, in revising the Alcyonaria in his 

 " Icones Histiologicie," makes reference to the spicules of this species. He says 

 they consist of (1) spindles beset with spiny warts, of which there may be six, 

 eight or twelve on each ; (2) simple clubs, probably representing the cortical 

 layer, with the warts on one side longer than those on the other. The size of 

 the largest spicule is 0'18 mm. Wright and Studer found no specimens of Isis 

 in the collection made during the " Challenger " voyage, but they give the fol- 

 lowing diagnosis, which is the last systematic reference to the genus : " Colonies 

 branched, with thick coenenchyma, within which the polyps can be wholly with- 

 drawn. The spicules are radiately stellate and covered with rough warts, of 

 which there may be six, eight or twelve on each. Some simple club-like forms 

 also occur." 



From the foregoing considerations it is at once evident that fsis hipimris, 

 though in a sense well known, has been very imperfectly described. It is hoped 

 that the following ol)servations may give more precision and definiteness to a 

 species, the sole representative of a distinct family. 



The specimens in this collection are almost all of a light brown colour 



which in the dry condition appears as buff or ochreous-yellow. In some of 

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