265 
in the buds, which for the rest produce a normal impression, only 
the soft parts are of a lighter colour than those of the upper side 
Fig. 6. Fungia actintformts. Underside of three living 
specimens with budding at the scar. 
of the parent. Since the buds occur at the underside, they are shut 
off from the light, to ,which the lighter colour of their tissue is 
perhaps to be ascribed. This budding generally presents one bud at 
the scar, sometimes two. With the older buds of this kind the 
upperside is already distinctly broadened into a dise, so that they 
have short stems. The structure of the skeleton is regular like that 
of the young buds of anthocormus, but it is very thin and fragile. 
It is difficult to account for the origin of these buds; the specimens 
in which they occur are already mature, with a transverse diameter 
of more than 5 cm. and for the rest look quite normal. Neither 
have they suffered from algae-parasitism, which consequently cannot 
have given rise to this budding. Maybe these buds are loosened 
later on, and are located under the disc of the parent-coral, which 
brings about a very unfavourable condition. 
Excepting the formation of buds at the anthocormus budding in 
Fungia fungites and HF. actiniformis is ever an abnormal pheno- 
menon. In nearly every case in which buds could be observed, they 
could be shown to originate from an increased growth of the tissue 
owing to seaweeds or other organisms which established themselves 
here. Only one category of buds forms an exception viz. the buds 
on the sear of F. actiniformis. 
This scar, in fact, is the place of an old wound, but even very 
young Fungiae, recently dropped from the stem, have covered this 
cicatrice again with living tissue. It is, therefore, difficult to account 
