2 Records of the Indian Museum. [Verve 
Notice has been taken of the more patent minimal variations 
which occur in the various forms, in the hope that the more stable 
defining of species may be thus forwarded. 
In describing the parts of the Plumularidz I have adopted in 
addition to the general term ‘ nematophore,’ originally used to 
signifv the organ as a whole, the Hincksian names sarcotheca and 
sarcostyle to differentiate the chitinous protection from its fleshy 
content. Since ‘ nematophore’ has been and still is used in the 
wide sense indicated above, it seems to me impracticable to 
restrict its meaning to the perisarc of the organ only, as advo- 
cated by Nutting (1900, p. 13), in spite of the fact that it has been 
loosely used in this way by systematists. There is the less reason 
to regret the impossibility, on account of the inappropriateness 
of the name as applied to a chitinous protection. Nor does it 
seem wise to complicate the terminology of the subject by the 
introduction of such terms as nematotheca and dactylothéque for 
a portion already sufficiently and excellently designated sarcotheca. 
Distribution.—From the bathymetrical point of view the col- 
lection is interesting as indicating for the first time the aspect of 
the Hydroid fauna of the deeper Indian waters. <A Sertularian 
and an epizoic Campanularian share the honour of having been 
dredged at the greatest depth, 1,343 fathoms, from beyond which 
exceedingly few Hydroids have ever been obtained. As they have 
already been recognised in shallow water—the former, Ida 
pristis, from 5 fathoms (Jaderholm, 1903) to 38 fathoms (Borra- 
daile, 1905), the latter, Campanularia corrugata, from 7 fathoms 
(Thornely, 1904) to 40 fathoms (Campenhausen, 1896)—-their 
bathymetrical range is an extraordinarily wide one, comparable to 
that of Sertularella tricuspidata, which occurs from almost the 
shore to 1,375 fathoms (Bonnevie, 1899). 
As to geographical distribution, the collection increases the 
recognised Hydroid fauna of Indian seas by eleven species and 
that of Malaysia by two. Four of these are described as new to 
science '; while the remainder of the new Indian records show, in 
the main, extensions in the range of Malaysian or Australasian 
species. Of the total of twenty-four species and varieties recorded, 
four occurred in the Malay Archipelago; while of the twenty from 
Indian waters, twelve of the species have been previously found 
in the Australo-Malayan region. 
So far as can be judged from a very limited collection, the 
affinity of the deep-sea Indian hydroid favna is, as one would 
expect from general considerations of faunal distribution, most 
markedly with that of the South Pacific. 
1 A preliminary note on these new forms has appeared in the Aun. Mag. Na. 
Hist. (8). vol. iii, pp. 524—528 (1909). 
