CATALOGUE 



OF 



M A D R E P R A R I A. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



HISTORICAL. 



The name Madrepora appears to have been first used by Imperato in 1599, but its precise 

 significance, or rather the sense in which the term was originally employed, does not appear 

 to be generally understood. The derivation usually given [cf. ' The Century ' and other 

 dictionaries) is madre, Ital., and the Greek ttw/jo?, or possibly •n-6po<;. The afiinity to Ital. 

 madreperla, mother-of-pearl, is evident. Imperato* describes and figures a number of 

 Zoophytes, which he classes together as Fori. This group is divided into Millepora, Madre- 

 pora, Retepora, Frondipora, Tubulara, &c. His work was published at a time when naturalists 

 were anxious to show that the animal and vegetable kingdoms meet in a common area, the 

 sea, and there produce an intermediate type of structure. Imperato is therefore especially 

 concerned to prove the " animal " nature of his Madrepora, and in doing so makes use of 

 several expressions which are quoted by Donati and appear to indicate the association of ideas 

 which led to the use of the word. The following quotations from Donati's workf (French 

 edition, 1758) are a free translation of the original of Imperato: — In "Madrepora" "les 



nouvelles additions se forment en consistance de Pore, et de substance charnue 



Madrepora, amas epais de Pores on croit que c'est une m6re oix se forment des 



animaux marins comme les abeilles dans les gateaux de cire La tubulaire [the 



calcareous cups] n'est qu'un reservoir d'animaux.'^ The figures of "Madrepora" in 

 Imperato^s work appear to represent a species of Dendrophyllia, probably D. ramea. In the 



* ' Dell' Historia naturale ' (Napoli, 1599) ; Latin transL, Coloniae, 1695. 

 t ' Essai sur I'histoire natureUe de la Mer Adriatique ' (La Haye, 1758). 



