342 Mr. R. Kiikpatiick on the 



From Nicllolson^s great monograph on the British Stroma- 

 tcporoids I extract a few historical d;ita. 



Thp histor}' of the group jiractically begins with Goldfuss 

 (1826), who described a fossil (probably from the Devonian 

 of Gerolstein), which he named Sfromatopora concentrica 

 and placed near Millepora. 



In the following list 1 give the name of the author, the 

 date, and his views as to the nature of Stromatoporoids : — 



Goldfuss, 1826. Hydrocoralliupe. 



Steiningeb, 1834. Sponges. 



F. RcEMER, 1843-4. Corals. 



Hall, 1847. Alcyonariaiis uear Tubipora. 



d'Orbigny, 18.50-51. Sponges. 



The two Sandbergers, 1850-56. Polyzoa. 



F. RcEMER, 1851-56. Polyzoa, but later tabulate corals like Favosites 

 and Chmtetes. 



Billings, 1857. Beatricea (a Stromatoporoid), a vegetable. 



FiCHWALD, 1860. Horny sponges. 



Hyatt, 1865. Some Stromatoporoids regarded as Cephalopoda. 



Baron von Rosen, 1867. Horny sponges. 



Pr. G. LiNDSTRoM, 1870. Foraminifera, and, in 1873, Labechia allied 

 to Hydractinia. 



Salter, 1873. Calcareous sponges. 



Nicholson, 1873-4. Calcisponges. 



Pawson, 1875. Between Foraminifera and Sponges. 



Sollas, 1877. Hexactinellid sponges, and, later, partly siliceous 

 sponges, partly Hydrozoa. 



Carter, 1877. Hydrozoa. 



Nicholson, 1886 (the Monograph). Partly Ilydroida, partly Ilydro- 

 corallinse. 



ZiTTEL, 1903. Hydrozoa. 



Geikie, 1903. Polyzoa. 



Steinmann, 1907. Hydrozoa. 



Kirkpatrick, August 1912: Sponges. September 1912: Fora- 

 minifera. 



To sum up, within the last eighty-six years Stromato- 

 poroids have been regarded as Foraminifera ; calcareous, 

 liorny, Monaxonellid, and Hexactinellid Sponges ; Hydroida, 

 Hydrocorallinaj, AlcT/onaria, corals (Anthozoa), Polyzoa, 

 Cephalopoda, vegetables. 



Kepler wrote a treatise, which is said to be highly instruc- 

 tive, entitled ^ A Book of Mistakes.' A few observations on 

 some of the errors recorded in the above list will not be 

 without interest. 



The " Cceleuterate " view was mainly held on account 

 of the presence of " tabula3,'"' the Sponge theory owing to 

 the oscule-like astrorhiza3, to the incrusting and enveloping 

 character of some species, and to the resemblance of the skeletal 



