162 EOCENE AND LOWER OLIGOCENE CORAL FAUNAS. 



Family EUPSAMMID^E Duncan (subfamily M:ilne-Ed\vard.s 



and. Haime). 



Genus BALANOPHYLLIA Searles Wood. 



Discussion of thegenusosteodes. — In Vol. VII, pagG 263, of the Proceedings of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Conrad proposes the 

 above name for a genus to include such forms as Balanophyllia irrorata ' and 

 B. caidifera.' The forms included in this genus are now distributed into 

 two genera^, both of which antedate Com-ad's name. Balanophyllia was 

 proposed by Searles Wood in 1844* (type species B. calyculus S. Wood) 

 and Eupsammia by Milne-Edwards and Haime in 1848^ (^JV^ species E. 

 trochiformis (Pallas). Furthermore, Conrad jjublished no figures, except for 

 E. caidifera,^ and did not describe his genus with sufficient accuracy. 

 Therefore it is discarded. The discussion is introduced here because this is 

 the first species noted which was referred to that genus. 



The generic diiference between Balanophyllia and Eupsammia is so 

 slight, and as some species, for example, BalanophyUia haleana, have indi- 

 viduals which can with propriety be referred to either genus, I have some- 

 times thought it best to place Eupsammia in the synonymy of Balanophyllia. 

 The reasons why I have not done so are : First, in later Tertiary and recent 

 times the two genera are distinct; second, when we obtain sufficient material 

 of various fossils, every species, every genus, etc., must intergrade with 

 some other species or genus; therefore it seems to me better not to merge 

 species or genera into one when they grade into one another in a lower 

 horizon, Ijut are distinct in an upper one. There may be difterence of 

 opinion on this point. I will state that Eupsammia and Balanophyllia do 

 pass one into the other, and if that destroys the validity of a genus, the 

 former becomes a synonym of the latter, and the family name Eupsam- 

 midse must be changed. 



Here seems the most appropriate place to introduce some observations 



' Proo. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Vol. VII, 1855, p. 263. 



^TiirhinoUa caulifera Courad, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Vol. Ill, 1847, p. 296; Jour. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci. Phila., 2d ser., Vol. I, 1848, p. 127, pi. xiii, figs. 33 and 34. 



'Ct. Osteodes elahoraUi (CoQTad). Check List, 1866, p. 2. Referred to genus Eupsammia in the 

 present paper, vide inf. p., 180. 



" Searles Wood. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII, 1844, p. 11. 



"Annales sci. uat.. Vol. X, 1848, p. 77. Duncan erroneously cites 1860 as the date of this genus. 



" Conrad's septal diagram of TurMnoUa caulifera is not accurate and is of no value in determining 

 the characters of his proposed geuus. 



