ON ALCYONIUM PULMONIS INSTAR LOBATUM ELLIS. 267 



to the locality where it was found, be referred to the ascidian. Whether 

 both references belong to the sponge must remain undetermined. 



To the sponge must be assigned the Alcyoninm Ficus, which Poiret 

 records in* his "Voyage en Barbarie" of the year 1789. To the 

 ascidian on the other hand the Alcyonium ficus of Bosc mentioned in 

 his "Histoire naturelle des Vers" (1802). In the second edition 

 of that work of the year 1827 Bosc has however again combined the 

 two species, since he here, in addition to the reference to Ellis, gives 

 also as a synonym the A. Ficus of Lamouroux (1816), which refers 

 to the sponge. 



The Alcyonium ficus, which Borowski and Herbst figure in their 

 ''Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs" (1787) is a copy of Ellis' 

 figure. In the text however no literature is referred to and the locality 

 is given as the Mediterranean. In the synonymy of the ascidian there- 

 fore only the reference to the figure can be accepted. 



Esper then again separated the two species in his large work on the 

 " Pflanzenthiere." What he describes as Alcyonium Ficus is the 

 sponge, whilst the ascidian is left without a binomial designation. In 

 Esper there is also to be found a careful summary of the literature. 



In his "British Fauna" of the year 1807 Turton records an 

 Alcyonium Ficas [sic !], which must be ranked as the ascidian. 



Then in the years 1815 and 1816 there follow the important works 

 of Lamarck and Lamouroux, which treat of both species under 

 binomial names. Nevertheless the true nature of the two species was 

 still not recognised, and they were both left in the genus Alcyonium. 

 For the sponge Lamarck introduced the new but superfluous name 

 Alcyonium ficiforme. The Mediterranean was given as locality. For 

 the ascidian on the other hand the name Alcyonium pulmonaria, 

 originating from Ellis and Solander, was applied, and as localities the 

 Atlantic Ocean and the Channel were given. 



Lamouroux in his "Histoire des Polypiers coralligenes 

 liexibles," dated 1816, also retains for the ascidian the name 

 Alcyonium Fulmonaria, whilst for the sponge he uses the correct 

 nomenclature, that is to say the specific name Alcyonium Ficus. 



By the important work of Savigny of the year 1816, it was con- 

 clusively proved that the colony-building Ascidians, which until then 

 had been placed with the alcyonians and polyps, ought to be united to 

 the simple ascidians. Thus Ellis' form took its place definitely 

 amongst the ascidians, and Savigny indeed placed it in the new genus 

 Aplidium, which he then founded. He only made a mistake in the 

 choice of the specific name, since he called the species Aijlidium ficus, 

 instead of employing the name ijulmonaria given to it by Ellis and 



