CONTRIBUTION TO THE ANATOMY OF GORGONID^. 



WITH OBSERVATIONS ON LIVING SPECIMENS. 



By C. C. CUTTING. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



While engaged in the study of the marine fauna in the 

 vicinity of the Island of Eleuthera, British West Indies, the 

 author became interested in the GorgonidcB which abound in 

 that region. A number of notes and drawings made at that 

 time have been supplemented by a more careful study of the 

 Anatomy, and to some extent, the Histology of six typical 

 species of the family Gorgonidee. The present work em- 

 bodies, therefore, both observations in the field and work in 

 the laboratory. During the studies of these forms I have been 

 struck with the difficulty of obtaining any recent work on the 

 anatomy of Gorgonidaa that is available to the student who 

 has no access to large libraries. 



The following brief account is offered in the hope that it 

 will be of service to such students; it is also hoped that some 

 of the facts are new to science. It has the merit, or demerit, 

 of being original from necessity, as no satisfactory account of 

 the anatomy of this seemingly little studied group could be 

 found. 



Works Consulted. 



Ag'assiz, Alexander. — "Three Cruises of the Blake." 



Affassiz, Loin's. — "On the Structure of the Alcyonoid Polypi." 



A'^assiz, Louis. — "Report on the Florida Reefs." 



Balfour., E. M. — "Comparative Embr3'olog3'." 



Claus and Sedgwick. — "Zoology." 



Dana., yames D. — "Corals and Coral Islands." 



