230 Zoological Society : — 



inasmuch as the presence of filaments depends entirely on the pre- 

 sence of pores in the skin, and through which they are extruded ; 

 consequently, when there are no pores there are no filaments. 



These genera comprised species possessing characters so different 

 from each other, and so well estahlishcd, that I found they must not 

 remain united. For instance, the g^enus Saf/artia included, amongst 

 others, A. dianthus, A. bellis and A. parasitica ; hut although the 

 characters were useless as generic distinctives, yet they appear to 

 me to be of sufficient importance to be used as characters for the 

 division of the Actiniadce, and I have accordingly used them for that 

 purpose. 



On examining Milne-Edwards's ' Histoire des Corallieres,' I was 

 pleased to find that my views on this point were in accordance with 

 those of that naturalist, he having divided the family into three sec- 

 tions, which he calls respectively Smooth Actinia, Warty Actinia, and 

 Perforated Actinia, or with pores, each being equal to one of Mr. 

 Gosse's genera and my subdivisions. The true generic characters 

 of the Actiniadce are to be found (as I have already mentioned) in 

 the integuments and in the tentacula ; these latter, although varying 

 with age, are yet constant in form and number in adults of the same 

 species. From these characters amongst others, I had divided the 

 family into eight genera (exclusive of Anthea and Adamsia~), of 

 which the types were Actinia equina, A. yemmacea, A. clavata, A. 

 bellis, A. viduata, A. dianthus, A. parasitica and A. coriacea ; and 

 these I named respectively Actinia, Banodes, Cyrtactis, Heliactis, 

 Sayartia, Actiniloba, Aster, and Ci'ibrina. My divisions and genera 

 were formed from examinations of British species only, and 1 was 

 not a little surprised to find that they so closely accorded with 

 Milne-Edwards's labours, founded as they are on an examination of 

 all described species. The only genus containing a British species 

 that I have not verified is his genus Dysactis, in which he includes 

 A. biserialis. This species, however, was described by the late 

 Professor Forbes as occurring plentifully on the shores of the island 

 of Ilerm ; I have therefore admitted it as a genus on the authority 

 of Milne-Edwards. The British species are distributed amongst six 

 of his genera, namely, Metridium, Actinia, Paractis,I>ysactis,Cerens, 

 and Adamsia ; of these. Actinia is the same as mine, Paractis I have 

 used in lieu of Sayartia, and Dysactis I also admit unaltered — they 

 are re})resented by Actinia equina. Actinia viduata, and Actinia bise- 

 rialis. My genus Actiniloba is the same as his genus Metridium, and 

 includes Actinia dianthus. I retain Actiniloba, as being the most cha- 

 racteristic name. His genus Cereus includes A. coriacea, A. yemmacea, 

 A. clavata and A. bellis ; these s])ecies, it was quite evident, could not 

 be included in one genus ; indeed M. -Edwards divides his genus Cereus 

 into several sections, A. coriacea being in one section, A. yemmacea 

 and A. clavata in a second, and A. bellis in the third. Restricthig, 

 tiicrefore, his genus Cereus io A. yemmacea, injstead of retaining Mr. 

 Gosrse's name Jiunodes, I retain my division of the remainder of the 

 species under the generic names of CVv/vy/y;^/, Cyrtactis and Heliactis. 

 Ilis genus Adamsia includes Actinia parasilica and Adamsia pullialu. 



