ANTENNULARIA. 143 



It is very much disputed whether this is distinct from 

 A. antennina, or only a variety of it. Ellis, Pallas, Flem- 

 ing, Couch, and Johnston hold that it is but a variety; 

 while Ray, Lamarck and Lamouroux, Hassall and Macgilli- 

 vray, and Mrs. Griffiths, "an authority," as Dr. Johnston 

 says, " always quoted with fond respect," all agree in 

 thinking them distinct species. To the latter I would add 

 my humble opinion. Major Martin and I have dredged 

 many fine specimens of A. ramosa, all springing from a 

 single stem of two or three inches, and then dividing into 

 several branches, and all being shaggy with long branchlets ; 

 and we never have got one specimen of the typical sea-beard 

 clustered from the base, and not dividing into branches. 

 Dr. Johnston remarks, " Mr. Hassall was the first to say, on 

 apparently better grounds, that these varieties might be 

 really species. He tells us that 'A. ramosa arises by a 

 single trunk, which subsequently divides and subdivides 

 into numerous branches; the branches are long, and the 

 cells are not separated from each other by one or more 

 small cup-like processes, as are those of A. antennina' 

 The value of these characters has been confirmed by Mr. J. 

 Macgillivray;" and Dr. Johnston adds, that the absence of 

 these cells, together with the peculiar habit, seem to justify 



