GONIOPORA. 35 



arise as districts hccomc more accurately dcjinni, will he comparatively harmless, for it will be 

 visible in the very names themselves. 



Time alone can perfect the method of defining the smaller districts. 

 The different variations distinguishable in any district are numbered : G. Singapore 1, 

 G. Singapore 2, and so on, and in this form they are quoted. But, when placed formally 

 at the head of the descriptions, the designation is as follows : G. Singapore (6)1 to G. Singa- 

 pore (6)6 ; the bracketed figure tells how many different forms of the coral have so far been 

 recorded from the Singapore district. 



These improvements in the way of arranging and designating the different forms are, 

 however, only part of the new method adopted. Having described all the forms and being 

 able to refer to them by a symbol which is itself instructive, we can proceed to draw up 

 tables in which the different forms can be grouped morphologically, and the whole genus may 

 be submitted to a comprehensive analysis. If the tables yield but little positive result, it 

 is because the data are stiU too few. But the whole is arranged in such a way that new forms 

 can always be added and new cliaracters can lie utilised without there being any need to turn 

 the contents of this volume upside down ; for there are no premature classifications to be dis- 

 carded, nor species to be " lumped " or " split." We have given primarily, according to our 

 present knowledge, a chart of the genus as it occurs, fossil or living, on the face of the globe, 

 and we have drafted tables for the analysis of the variations and of their distribution. It is 

 a modest beginning, but it is all that the facts warrant. 



In most cases the new method can carry on and incorporate earlier records without any 

 difficulty. So long as single forms or a small group of closely similar forms from one and tlie 

 same locality have been described as a species and figured, it is quite easy to assign it its 

 place in the geographical list of known members of the genus. But when a " species has been 

 established " upon a group of specimens from several different localities, and the description 

 is founded upon them all without any indication as to the locality of the particular speci- 

 mens figured, the record is of Uttle help for our list. As, however, no facts can be ignored, 

 we assume with a note of interrogation that the figures relate to the specimen found at the 

 first locality named. We then record forms as occurring in the other localities mentioned, and 

 refer to the description already given under the first locality. This so far meets the aim of 

 our work, which is to map out the distribution of the genus, but we are unable in tliese cases 

 to give a reliable account of the structural details. All we can do is to rearrange and lay out 

 the recorded facts on a plan which can be filled in with correct details later on ; thus rendering 

 what was practically useless and confusing a more or less valuable addition to oiu- knowledge. 

 Lastly, in every museum specimens occur which have no recorded locality. On accomit 

 of their morphological interest they cannot be ignored, least of all in a work like tliis which 

 is not only a monograph of a genus, but also a catalogue of its representatives preserved in 

 the National Museum. Seven specimens from unknown localities are recorded at, the end of 

 the volume, and a method of designation has been adopted which uses letters as substitutes 



for theit unknown geographical names. [See prefatory note to Group XIY. p. 15G.] 



F 2 



