268 



e. the same turned upwards forming the wall of the anthocodia. 



d. the wall of the stomadaeum. 



e. the retractor muscles of the zooid. 



f. the mesenteries. 



g. the sulcus (see fig. 12 a). 



h. muscle banners on the sulcar aspect. 



Ova of enormous size were present in great abundance attached to 

 the mesenterial filaments (fig. 10 e), varying in size from 0,1 mm to 

 0,6 mm in diameter, but although a considerable number of the larger 

 and more mature ova were stained with borax-carmine, no sign of seg- 

 mentation could be found, so that the question of viviparity for this 

 genus must remain undecided. 



A fact which may prove to be of great interest is that in every 

 zooid examined there w^as a large number of Foraminifera of various 



FÎçr. 11. 



Fig. 12. 



Fig. 11. Cross section through the introverted anthocodia (x 24). a. outer wall of 

 the verruca; b, the prolongation of this outer wall, when introverted, forming on its 

 downward course the elastic wall of the zooid stalk; c, the same turned upwards for- 

 ming the wall of the anthocodia; d, the wall of the stomodaeum; e. the retractor 

 muscles of the zooid; f, the mesenteries; g, the sulcus; h, muscle banners on the 



sulcar aspect. 



Fig. 12. Enlarged section through the stomodaeum showing the sulcus [a] (x 56 . 



Fig. 13. Ascular filament enlarged (x 64). a, ciliated groove. 



kinds, and in the decalcified sections examined the protoplasmic con- 

 tents could be seen surrounded by the ectodermic cells of the stomo- 

 daeum, while many were also enclosed within the pinnules of the ten- 

 tacles. "When the zooids are at rest, the tentacles are infolded, and as 

 many Foraminifera are enclosed by the pinnules they must have entered 

 while the polyp was expanded. The absence of food in the coelentera 

 of most Alcyonarians and the frequent presence of zooxanthellae point 

 to the fact that many Alconaria are symbiotic organisms, but the fact 

 we have noticed suggests that some have the power of assimilating food 

 from other sources. 



