328 EDITH M. PRATT. 
PAGE 
ZOOCHLORELLE z ; z ‘ ‘ : 349 
Tue MrsocG h@at CELL a 3 p 4 351 
The intimate connection between the levis ae endoderm, and 
its less intimate connection with ectoderm. The ameeboid 
character of the so-called nerve-cells and fibrils composing 
the plexus. Its multiple function. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Ter research in connection with this paper is based upon 
a study of a very comprehensive collection of specimens of 
Alcyonaria from many localities, now in the possession of the 
Victoria University of Manchester, and kindly placed at my 
disposal by Professor Hickson. This includes Mr. J. Stanley- 
Gardiner’s excellently preserved collections from the Maldive 
Islands and Funa Futi respectively; Dr. Willey’s collection 
from New Guinea, New Britain, and Lifu ; Professor Haddon’s 
collection from Torres Straits; Mr. Gilchrist’s collection 
from the Cape of Good Hope; and Professor Herdman’s 
collection from Ceylon. I have compared the results of my 
investigations on these forms with a study of the British 
representative of the family Aleyonium digitatum in the 
living as well as the preserved condition. 
In two former papers (1903, 1905) I have described the 
general anatomy and relationships of Alcyonium, Sarco- 
phytum, Lobophytum, and the new. genus Sclero- 
phytum. The present paper is devoted to a more detailed 
account of the minute anatomy of the digestive organs, and 
records an attempted investigation of the physiology of 
digestion in these genera. 
Little is known of the food supply and mode of digestion 
in the Aleyonaria, and, as the accounts in other groups are 
very conflicting, experimental evidence has been sought in 
the hope of obtaining enlightenment as to the nature of the 
food supply, the physiology of digestion, and the distribution 
of nutriment in this family. During the spring of 1902 and 
