PREFACE. 



The first attempt to get the Collection of Stony Corals in the British Museum 

 into systematic order was made in the year 187G, when the Trustees engaged 

 Dr. Briiggemann to prepare a complete Catalogue. Unfortunately, the work of 

 this able Zoologist was interrupted by his premature death in 1878, and for 

 various reasons could not be resumed for many years. In the interval important 

 additions were made to the collection, of which the specimens collected by the 

 Naturalists of the ' Transit of Venus,' ' Alert,' and ' Challenger ' expeditions 

 should be specially mentioned ; then, in more recent years, when the question 

 about the formation of Coral-reefs had been reopened, a considerable amount 

 of material was received from several Naturalists who took special interest in 

 this inquiry : especially from Dr. Guppy, who collected in the Solomon Islands ; 

 from Mr. G. C. Bourne, who investigated the coral-reefs of Diego Garcia ; from 

 Mr. J. J. Lister, who passed some years in Polynesia ; from Mr. Bassett-Smith, 

 who, by the instructions of the Hydrographer of the Admiralty, thoroughly 

 searched the Tizard and Macclesfield Banks during their survey by H.M.SS. 

 ' Rambler ' and ' Penguin ' ; and from Mr. Thurston, who paid several visits to 

 the Ramesvaram reefs. The present work was near its completion when, finally, 

 Mr. Saville-Kent transferred to the Museum the large collection which he had 

 formed on the Great-Barrier Reef and in Torres Straits. 



