''"189^''] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. • 175 



[eft it may be seen to be of a chocolate brown coloi'. In consequence of 

 tlie jibscnce of ectoderm tlie cohimn is white, tlioiij^h in some of the 

 smaller specimens, in which the mesoghea is tliinncr, the color was a dark 

 slate blue, due to the dark pigment of the endoderm showing through. 

 The column Avail is very rugose, probably dne to contraction, and shows 

 no signs of possession of verrucas or permanent warts. 'i'lMi sphincter 

 (Pi. XXVIII, Fig. 70) is weak, comiiared to what it is in most Paractids, 

 and is for the most \niit confined to a thin layer immediately external 

 to the endoderm. Toward its upper part a lew scattered and isolated 

 cavities are to be seen deeply imbedded in the mesoghea, a[)parently 

 undergoing degeneration. 



In the (M)ntracted S[)e(;imens the tentacles aie concealed partially by 

 an infolding of the margin, but this infolding is not carried far enough 

 to conceal the disc and the wide mouth. The tenta<!les an; situated 

 close to the nnirgin in about five cycles, and are apparently about nine- 

 ty-six in number. They are short, acnminat*', and slender. Their ec- 

 toderm and that of the disc seems to be of the same color as that of 

 the column. The radial musculatnre of the disc and the longitn<linal 

 muscles oftiie tentacles are iMibe<l(led in the mesoghea. The mouth is 

 Avide and leads into a- stomatodu'um which reaches lu^arly to the base. 

 The siphonoglyphes are well developed. 



The stomatoda'al ectoderm and tlie emloderm thioughonf is of a dark 

 wine (;olor; the pignuMit occnrs in the form of grannies scattered 

 through the cells, and is insoluble in alcohol, turpentine, and xylol. 

 The mesenteries appear to number twenty fonr ]»airs, half of which ar<'. 

 perfect. Their mesoglo'a is thick, and there is no special musclepennon, 

 the longitudinal muscles being comparatively weak (PI. xxviii, Fig. 

 71). No reproductive organs c(mld be made out. 



Family SAGARTID^. 



Actinina' with sphincter muscle imbedded in the mesoglcea, usu- 

 ally with only a few jierfect mesenteries; furnished with acontia. 



According to t\n' above definitnm the Sagartid:e will form a group 

 parallel to the Paractid*, and distinguished from them by the presence 

 of acontia. Whether this is a character of sulliciejit importance 

 for a family diagnosis and indicates ])hyletic adinity of all the forms 

 which present it future observation must determine. It seems at present 

 con\-enient to associate all Actinina- with acontia in a single family, 

 though it may be necessary to recognize in the family Aarious sub- 

 families, as several authors have already done. Iladdon (\S!>) has 

 discussed the h'mitations of the family as they have been placed by 

 various autluns, and accordingly it will be unnecessary to repeat such 

 a discussion here. The same author has established a new subfamily 

 Chondractininie, which may, for the ])iesent, be adopted, though it 

 weems not im])robablc that it is j)ractically identical with the sub- 



