Zoological Society. 407 



qu'une Saturnide." The veins of the fore-wiiigs are however ar- 

 ranged as in the typical SaturnicB ; but the antennae are different, 

 consisting of about thirty-six joints, bipectinated in both sexes with 

 only thirty-four rays on each side, each joint except one or two at 

 the apex emitting only a pair of rays, which are rather short. The 

 palpi are distinct and turned upwards, extending rather further than 

 the hairs of the face : the spiral tongue is distinct. 



Boisduval states that this species " vole en plein jour. Une annee, 

 aux environs de Port Natal, on aurait pu en prendre par centaines en 

 quelques heures. Deux ou trois jours apres il n'existait plus. La fe- 

 melle que nous est inconnue ne vole pas, peutetre meme est-elle aptere, 

 et tons les males voltigeaient sans doute a sa recherche." The female 

 is however winged and scarcely distinguishable from the male, as I 

 have ascertained by extracting eggs from the abdomen of a specimen 

 in the British Museum collection, which M. Boisduval would doubt- 

 less have taken for a male. 



The structure of the antennae and presence of a spiral tongue, 

 together with the fragile texture of the insect, will require a subgenus 

 for its reception. 



May 22. — Harpur Gamble, Esq., M.D., in the Chair. 

 The following papers were read : — 



1. Description of some Corals, including a nev^ British 



Coral discovered by W. MacAndrew, Esq. 



By J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. etc. 



As yet only a single living species of recent stony coral has been 

 recorded as inhabiting our coast. I am aware that M. Milne-Edwards 

 and M. Haime have described the Torbay coral as belonging to two 

 species and to different genera, viz. Besmophyllum Stokesii, Ann. Sci. 

 Nat. ix. 255. t. 7. f. 12, 12 a, and Cyathina Smithii, 1. c. ix. 288 ; but 

 from the varieties in form, and especially in the contraction of the 

 base, which I have seen in specimens on the same stone, I believe 

 the genera and species have been established on very unessential cha- 

 racters. 



I may state, that from the observations I have been able to make, I 

 believe that the recent corals are very much more influenced by ex- 

 ternal circumstances, by the rarity or the abundance of food that the 

 animals are able to procure, and by the roughness or quietness of the 

 water they happen to inhabit, and the stations they may accidentally 

 occupy, than the describers of corals even the most recent are willing 

 to allow. This greatly added to the difficulty of distinguishing the 

 species ; and if this is the case with the recent corals which we receive 

 in a good state, how much more difficult must it be to distinguish 

 those only found in a fossil, and often in a worn and imperfect con- 

 dition ! 



The British coral here noticed is perfectly distinct from the former, 

 and from any European coral that has come under my examination ; 

 and when I showed it to M. Milne-Edwards and M. Ilaime on their 



