CORALLIKKRI. 449 



SCIRPEARIA, CaV., 



The body is very long and slender, and the Polypi are insulated 

 and ranged alternately along the two sides*. In 



Pavonakia, Cuv., 

 The body is also elongated and slender, but the Polypi only occupy 

 one side, where they are crowned in quincunx f . In 



Rexilla, Lam., 

 The body is short, and instead of that part which in Pennatula 

 proper is furnished with filaments, has a broad reniform disk bearing 

 the Polypi on one of its faces J. In the 



Veretillum, Cuv., 

 We find a cylindrical body, simple and without branches, furnished 

 with Polypi in a portion of its length. The bone is usually small and 

 the Polypi large. We can trace the prolongations of intestines into 

 the common stem in these comj)ound Zoophytes much more easily 

 than in any of the others. 



One species that inhabits the Mediterranean — Pennatula cy- 

 nomorium, Pall., Miscell. Zuol., XIII; Alcyonium epipetrum, 

 Gm.; Rap., Ac. Nat. Cur., XIV, p. 2, pi. xxxviii, 1, is frequently 

 more than a foot in length, thicker than the thumb, and remark- 

 able for the phosphoric light that it diffuses §. 

 Finally, in the 



Ombellularia, Cuv., 



We remark a very long stem, supported by a bone of similar length, 

 and terminated at the summit only by a bundle of Polypi ||. 



Small, porous and stony bodies, which naturalists have thought 

 may be approximated to the Millepora, are found among fossils and 

 in the ocean. If they were enveloped by a rind or bark containing 

 Polypi, they would be movable Coralliferi, and should rather be 

 placed near the Pennatulse. Such are the 



OvuLiTES, Lam., which have the form of eggs, hollow, and fre- 

 quently perforated at both ends : the Lunulites, which are orbicular, 

 convex, striated, and porous on one side, and concave on the other: 

 and the Orbulites, that are orbicular, flat, or concave, porous on 

 both sides or on the edges. If the Dactylopora be free, as is the 

 opinion of Lamarck, it will also belong to this subdivision ; it is a 



* Pennatula mirabilis, L. ; Mus. Ad. Fred., XIX, 4. 



f Pennatula antennina, Boliatsch, IX, 4, 5; — Penn. scirpea, Pall, and Gmelin. 



X Pennatula reniformis, Ell., Phil. Trans., LIII, xLk, 6, 13, or Alcyonium agaricum. 

 Gin. 



§ Add Pennatula phalloides, Pall., Misc. Zool., XIII, 5—9; — Pennat. steUifera, 

 Mill)., Zool. Dan., XXXVI, 1—3. 



II Pennatula encrinus, Ell., Corall., XXXVII, a, b, e. 



N.B. The Pennatula filusa and the Pennatula sagitta are parisitical animals of the 

 genus Leinea (Pennella, Oken), and not PennatulEe. The Pennat. sagitta, Esper, 

 Pennat., pi. v, is very different from that of Linnaeus, and is perhaps a Nepthys. 



