No. 1.] ACTINIARIA OF THE BAHAMAS. 67 
with Lesueur’s Corticifera flava (’17) with tolerable certainty. I 
was inclined for a time to consider it identical also with the 
form described by Ellis and Solander (86) under the name 
Alcyonium mammillosum, but there is too much uncertainty 
regarding this form. Dana (46) and Milne-Edwards (’57) be- 
lieve this to be a form in which the polyps project somewhat 
above the surface of the coenenchyma, a conclusion no doubt 
derived from the figure given by Solander. I think, however, 
it would be as well to allow Ellis and Solander’s name to lapse 
altogether, since the description which they give is not suffi- 
cient to allow of certainty in the identification of any form with 
it, and has already given rise to some confusion. 
Andres identifies Lesueur’s species with Klunzinger’s Paly- 
thoa tuberculosa (77) from the Red Sea. Miiller (84) has 
described the arrangement of the mesenteries of this form, and, 
as will be seen, it differs in some respects from the Bahama 
form. Erdmann, too (85), has given a brief description of a 
form from Simons’ Bay, Cape of Good Hope, which Hertwig 
(88) identifies with Klunzinger’s Palythoa tuberculosa, and this 
also disagrees in some points, both with Miiller’s description 
and with the Bahaman species. It seems doubtful accordingly 
if the identifications of Hertwig and Andres are correct. 
In C. flava the polyps are deeply imbedded in the ccenen- 
chyma and are separated from each other by slight intervals of 
that tissue, so that their outline is circular and not polygonal 
from mutual pressure, as in Hertwig’s C. tuberculosa. In pre- 
served and therefore contracted specimens the height of the indi- 
vidual polyps is about 1.5 cm. and the breadth 0.5 cm., agreeing 
in this respect with Miiller’s form, but differing from Hertwig’s, 
the measurements of:which are respectively 6-8 mm. and 5 
mm. In the expanded condition the disc of C. flava measures 
0.8 cm. in diameter. The small portion of the polyps which 
extend above the coenenchyma forms in preserved specimens a 
ring-like swelling, the surface of which is marked with radiating 
furrows, which in expanded individuals may be seen to extend 
to the margin, separating there 16-18 tubercles. This character 
seems to be possessed also by Klunzinger’s and Hertwig’s forms, 
and this appears to have been the principal reason for the 
fusion by Andres of Lesueur’s and Klunzinger’s species. 
The basal member of the coenenchyma is not particularly 
