REPORT ON THE PENNATULIDA. 3 



b. Three complete skeletons of calcareous stems, of twenty-four, 

 twenty, and sixteen inches lenf,'th respectively; and sixteen fragments of 

 stems, varying in length from four to twenty inches. Some of these 

 are still encrusted with portions of the coenenchym, or fleshy body- 

 substance, and must, therefore, have belonged to specimens only 

 recently dead ; the majority, however, are quite clean and white, and 

 appear, therefore, to have been dead for some time. 



Specimens of FmucuUna were dredged at two spots about a mile 

 apart ; one of these about three miles N.W. of Oban, and midway 

 between the mainland and Lismore Point, the southern extremity of 

 Lismore Island ; the other about half-a-mile S.E. of Lismore Point.* 

 The depth of water in both cases was about twenty-two fathoms, and 

 the bottom mud. 



The living specimens were kept in sea water for one to three days, 

 and then transferred to spirit. In order to study the anatomy of the 

 polypes a few have been removed from different portions of the colony ; 

 and of these sections, either transverse or longitudinal, were made, 

 which, when cleared with a mixture of creosote and turpentine and 

 mounted in balsam, made very satisfactory preparations. The 

 specimens proved to be in better histological condition than was 

 anticipated fiom the method of preparation, but cannot be relied on 

 to determine doubtful points of microscopic structure. It is highly 

 desirable that in future expeditious more attention should be paid to 

 this very important point. 



The following descripiion, which has been drawn up from the 

 preparations obtained in the above manner, applies, except when 

 otherwise specified, to the largest of the specimens obtained alive. 



General Account. 



Funicidina is a compound or colonial Actiuozoon, whose general 

 appearance is shown in Plate I., Fig. 1. It consists of a cylindrical, 

 fleshy axial portion, the lower ^th of which is bare, forming the 

 stalk (Fig. 1. b), which in the natural condition is planted in the mud 

 of the sea bottom, while the upper ^ths, forming the racMn (Fig. 1, a) 

 are thickly studded with the individual animals or polypes, each of 

 which is similar in structure to an ordinary sea-anemone. 



The axial portion, which is gracefully curved as shown in the 

 figure, is traversed throughout its whole length by a solid calcareous 

 stem, quadrangular in section, and shown in Fig. 2 free from the 

 investing fleshy substance or cmunchym. 



At the bottom of the racliis the polypes are few and small ; 

 passing upwards they gradually increase in both number aud size, 

 attaining a maximum in the upper third. They are not placed all 

 round the rachis, but on three sides only, leaving the fourth bare. This, 



* Vide "General Report on the DredeinR Expedition," by J. F. Goode and 

 W. P. Marshall, iu which the Orst locality is marked Station III., the second, 

 Station VI. 



