i6o Natural History Bulletin. 



which includes the Sponges, characterized, among other 

 things by the absence of nematocysts, and the other "Cni- 

 DARiA," characterized as follows: ^'•Coelenterata with consistent 

 tissues not pierced by a system oj^ pores; the osculiim is replaced 

 by a month; with thread cells in the epithelial tissues.'''' This is 

 in italics and constitutes the formal characterization of the sub- 

 group. 



Under the sub-group thus characterized, they place the 

 Order Alcyonaria, composed of the four families Alcyoxid^, 

 Pennatulid^ Gorgonid^ and Tubiporid^. 



The above examples are sufficient to show the extent to 

 which nematocysts are used as diagnostic characters of great 

 importance and the manner in which this fact is embodied in 

 our nomenclature. 



It seems to me that the presence or absence of these organs 

 is not sufficiently constant to afford characters of even Family 

 value, and hence should be entirely discarded in defining 

 Orders, Classes or "Phyla," and that the misleading impres- 

 sions conveyed by such names as ^'■JVematophora''^ and '■'■Cni- 

 daria"" should be no longer perpetuated by the use of those 

 terms as above employed. 



In conclusion, the writer desires to express his obligation, 

 to Messrs. Martin, Wagner & Co., of Baltimore, for aid in 

 securing transportation to and from the Island of Eleuthera; 

 to Capt. Charles Flowers, for kind and most efficient assistance 

 rendered on the Island; to Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, for identi- 

 fication of specimens, and for other valuable information; to 

 Mr. John L. Ridgway, of the U. S. Geol. Survey, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, for most acceptable aid in the matter of engrav- 

 ing and printing the plates accompanying this article; to Mrs. 

 C. C. Nutting, for faithful and painstaking aid in the field, 

 and through the entire work. 



