5 
diameter of the siphonozooid of C. »o6dile is about 0,15 mm. Allowing for distortion it may 
be reckoned that the corresponding diameter of C. regin@ is not more than 0,05 mm. This 
measurement conveys some idea of the relative size of the siphonozooids of the two species 
but it is one that can only he regarded as an approximate guess. 
The spicules, as in all the other species, are very variable in form but the largest and 
what we may suppose to be the full grown spicules are nearly all of the octoradiate type and 
about 0,08 mm. in length. If a number of these typical octoradiate spicules are examined 
eritically it is soon discovered that they exhibit great variation in detail. It may take a long 
time to find a single specimen so regular in form as that shown in figure 7, in which the 
extremity e is similar to the extremity f and the rays a, 6, c, d, g, k approximately equal in 
length and diameter, but in the most regular spicules found there are differences in the size 
and arrangement of the tubercles on the rays and on the extremities. Apart from the varieties 
of size and arrangement of the tubercles however a great many spicules are found in which 
the two extremities e and f of the spicule are unsymmetrical, and then if one extremity e, is 
much larger than the other / the spicule becomes club shaped. There is also a frequent 
variation in the arrangement of the rays. Thus the rays g and 7 are often situated nearer to 
or further away from the extremities than the rays a, d,c, d. This variation leads to the 
formation of irregular spicules such as Fig. Sa which have a general family resemblance to the 
octoradiate spicule but are not typical in development. Another variation is seen in the imperfect 
development of the rays of one side. (Fig. 86) and these spicules are very similar to the spicules 
described by Rıprey as “opera-glass’' shaped spicules. These differences in the character of the 
spicules are doubtless due to the variable character of the pressure of the surrounding mesogloea, 
and the fact that in Corallium the spicules are so closely crowded together leads to the 
formation of many remarkable distortions of their growth. 
In Corallium regine the spicules of the variety shown in Fig. 85, i.e. the opera-glass 
shaped spicule are comparatively rare. The great majority are somewhat irregular octoradiates 
similar to Fig. 8a but a considerable number approximating to the typical octoradiate spicule 
(fig. 7) may be found. 
It is quite impossible to give very definitely any statements as to the difference in size 
between the spicules of this new species and that of any other species of the genus. 
The statements made by different observers are not consistent even in the case of such 
a well known coral as Corallium nodile of the Mediterranean. DE LacazE-DUTHIERS described 
the spicules as being 0,05-—0,07 mm. in length. KÖLLikEr (2) states that they may be up to 
‚o9 mm. in length but several spicules in my own preparations of this species are certainly over 
o,ı mm. in length. The spicules in my preparations of C. regine do not exceed 0,085 mm. 
and are therefore smaller than those in my own preparations of C. nodile, but I feel that it ıs 
quite probable that if I made another preparation at random from each of these two species 
a different result might be obtained. 
The only point that is really of any importance is that the opera-glass shaped spicules 
are rare in C. vegine and in that respect the species differs from C. johnstoni, C. inutile, 
C. Busillum and others and resembles more closely C. japonicum, C. nobile and others. 
5 
