REPORT ON CORALS—EXPLANATION OF PLATES, 209 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 
HYDROCORALLINA—I. to XIV. 
Note.—The greater part of the figures relating to the soft structures of the Hydro- 
corallinze have been prepared so as to represent by means of ideal sections the con- 
clusions as to structure arrived at by prolonged study of long series of preparations. 
It would have been impossible to give facsimile drawings of all the preparations from 
the study of which facts of importance were arrived at, and thus to lay the evidence 
before the reader in a pictorial form. The practice of illustrating scientific papers 
treating of minute anatomy by figures which profess to be facsimiles of preparations, 
and in which often all defects due to breakage of sections or obliquity of the line of 
cutting are reproduced, seems to me much to be deplored, and only tends to create 
confusion and needlessly increase the number of figures without in any way enhancing 
the credit which will be given to the results. The drawings can never be so accurate 
as to stand in the place of preparations; they will always represent to some extent 
the author’s views as to what is to be observed in the preparations. It seems far 
better that in the modern stage of the science of finer anatomy, drawings should represent 
the results attaimed, in as complete and concise a form as can be devised, so as to 
convey these results to others almost at a glance, if possible. 
In the present figures all the histological details, as well as the major features of 
the structures represented, have been drawn accurately to scale by means of a series 
of micrometric measurements. The amount of magnification in diameters is given at 
the bottom of each plate or figure. Since in the majority of the. plates ideal sections 
through complex canal meshworks are represented, the canals composing the mesh- 
works are necessarily shown as cut open in all directions. 
PEATE aE 
Drawings of the coenostea of the several species of Stylasteridee of which the cor- 
responding soft tissues are described. 
Fig. 1. Sporadopora dichotoma. Young vigorous specimen which was obtained in 
co) / ') f=) f=) 
the living condition. Natural size. 
(ZOOL. CHALL, EXP.—PART vi1.—1880.) 
