A Study of Respiration in Alcyonaria. 



189 



The results of all the experiments are summarized in table 1, in which 

 the figures in columns 2 and 3 are the averages obtained from 5 deter- 

 minations on specimens of various sizes of each species. Briareum 

 asbestum has a central axis composed entirely of spicules, which in 

 macerated specimens could not be certainly separated from those 

 formerly contained in the coenenchyma, so that both the skeletal masses 

 are listed under the heading spicules. 



Table I. 



Five observations were made in each case. 



DISCUSSION. 



The validity of Rubner's (1885) hypothesis that heat-production 

 (oxidation) is in direct proportion to the surface area of an organism 

 has been denied by Montuori (1913) for all aquatic animals on the 

 basis of his experiments recorded in that paper. On the other hand, 

 Hoesshn (1888), Zuntz (1901), e^ aJ., have maintained that their results 

 on fishes support Rubner. 



In Alcyonaria the surface in contact with the water varies greatly 

 in different states of contraction or expansion of the colony. In the 12 

 species recorded in table 1 the surface area when expanded— all of 

 them being able to completely retract their polyps — ^varied from 1.25 

 to 3.25 times that when the colony was in complete retraction. Since 

 each species when undisturbed would arrive at complete expansion 

 within a few moments after being put into the dark chamber, while 

 on the other hand a slight agitation of the respiration chamber suf- 

 ficed to cause them to remain contracted, the comparison of the con- 

 sumption of oxygen under each of these conditions was a simple 

 matter. While there were slight variations in the actual consumption 

 of oxygen of any specimen in such a pair of experiments, the higher 



