122 RKPORT ON THE PENNATULIUA. 



miles N.W. of Oban, and about a mile from tbe shore, in twenty 

 fathoms water, one being brought up by the tangle and the other 

 inside the dredge-net. A third, smaller, specimen obtained from the 

 same locality was not preserved. 



The specimens prove on examination to be of different sexes, a 

 rare piece of good fortune, which has enabled us to make our report 

 far more complete than could otherwise have been the case, and 

 also to give an account of the structure and development of the male 

 reproductive organs of Pi'iiiidtida, of which no satisfactory description 

 has hitherto appeared. 



In order to investigate the anatomical structure a pair of leaves with 

 the corresponding part of the rachis were removed from the male speci- 

 men, the less perfect of the two, and of these sections were made in 

 various planes. The knowledge obtained in this way, which was still 

 deficient in many important points, we have supplemented by an exami- 

 nation of specimens of Pennatula plio'^phorea in the Owens College 

 museum, originally obtained from Naples, and in this way have been 

 enabled to prepare a fairly complete account of the anatomy of 

 Pennatula. Concerning the histology we have been less successful 

 owing to the imperfect preservation of the specimens. 



As in the case of FiinicuUna, we have given special attention to the 

 figures on Plate III., all of which have either been drawn directly from 

 the objects themselves, or else constructed from camera drawings of 

 the several parts shown. 



Gener.\l Account. 



The general appearance of Pennatuhi phospliorea is shown in Figs. 1 

 and 2, the former figure representing the dorsal and the latter the 

 opposite or ventral surface, both figui'es being drawn from the 

 female specimen. 



As in Funiculina there is a cylindrical axial portion, of which the 

 lower ^ths, forming the stalk (Figs. 1 and 2 b), are bare and in the 

 living animal probably planted in the sea-bottom, while the upper 

 jiths, or rachis (Fig. 2 a), support the polypes. 



These polypes are arranged in transverse rows along each side of 

 the rachis, the several polypes of each row being fused together along 

 nearly their whole length, so as to form broad horizontal leu res (Figs. 

 1, 2, and H dl), projecting out at right angles to the rachis. The 

 presence of these leaves forms the most marked point of difference 

 between Pennatula- and Funiculina, in which latter each polype is 

 quite free from its neighbours and inserted independently into the 

 rachis. 



As in Funiculina the polypes are placed along the dorsal and 

 lateral surfaces of the rachis, but not on the ventral surface (Figs. 2 

 and 3), which however, unlike Funiculina, is thickly studded with 

 zooids (Figs. 2 and 3, e). 



As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the leaves are not all of equal length ; 

 the longest ones, in the female specimen, are at about one-third 



