PORITES. o7 
It is obvious, then, that the task of establishing genetic species is practically hopeless in 
such a group as Porites. That method is, consequently, out of the question. The grouping 
according to resemblance is very hazardous, for the next analysis of structure will probably 
show that our groups will not stand. The only safe method is to drop all premature 
attempts at grouping either into genetic species or into morphological “species,” and to be 
content with doing the preparatory work necessary before either of these former methods 
can be attempted with any profit. 
This, then, is what I have striven to do, and the following is the chief result of the 
experience gained. The classification of Porites is an impossible task for any single person, 
or even any single institution. The National Collection is already large ; it has been gathered, 
one here and one there, from some thirty-six districts. But there were certainly many 
other forms not represented in the collection living in each of these thirty-six districts, and 
hundreds of localities from which we have no specimens at all. The forms of Porites are 
indeed like the stars in the heavens, which no man can count, but perhaps even harder to deal 
with than the stars, for they vary, not only in position and magnitude, but also in shape and 
texture. It is this latter factor which makes it so difficult to catalogue them. It may be 
possible later, when the principles of structure are more thoroughly known, to express their 
differences in notes and symbols. But now, and until that can be done, it is, I repeat, clearly 
out of the power of any individual man or institution, to attempt a comprehensive descriptive 
catalogue. This volume alone, with its two parts, is witness enough that a large collection of 
specimens of any one genus may easily transgress the limits of practicability in the matter 
of hard work and expense.* 
Two questions thus arise: firstly, is it worth the trouble to try to obtain any systematic 
knowledge at all of the Corals? and secondly, if it is, how should the*difficulty be attacked ? 
The answer to the first question will differ in different minds. Those dominated solely 
by the commercial spirit will see no use whatever in attempting it; but all whose minds are 
unwarped and have retained their natural bent, will recognise that the pursuit of knowledge 
as such is not a question of utility, but of instinct. The mind has its hungers as certainly 
as the body, and the satisfaction of these is playing a part in human evolution, neither 
the end nor even the direction of which can be foreseen. 
The answer to the second question seems to me to be that the localities must be dealt 
with separately, and, as far as possible, on the spot. Not only would each investigator 
discover instructive series, but he would obtain insight into the influences of the environment. 
It is our total ignorance of these indispensable factors in the production of the results that 
makes our present attempt at systematic grouping so barren a task. 
* So far as my knowledge of the collection goes, there is no other genus remaining to be 
catalogued which shows such a wealth both of specimens and of variations on the generic type as 
this. There may be collections with greater numbers of specimens, but none with such a wealth of 
subtle variations as are seen in the intricate network-skeleton of Porites. 
E 2 
