f)C)2 Mr. J. J. Siinj)SOu on a new 



(Ceylon Reports, Royal Society London, vol. iii. 1905). The 

 gpceimen dredged off Ceylon is a Cavernularid with very 

 distinctive characters and apparently quite new to science. I 

 am indebted to Professors Herdman and Thomson for the 

 opportunity of studying this interestin;^ type. 



The colony shows no trace of attachment, and consists of a 

 polyp-bearing upper portion, somewhat ovoid in shape or like 

 a compressed cylinder with hemispherical ends, separated by 

 a constriction from a short, compressed, relatively slender, 

 sterile stalk or trnnk, the whole presenting the appearance of 

 a thick club with a short handle (see PI. XVII. fig. 1). A 

 section of the stock, whether transverse or longitudinal, has 

 the form of a broadly terminated ellipse. 



The external measurements are the following : — 



(1) Total length 3'7, breadth 1'7, thickness 1 cm. 



(2) Stock: length 2-5, breadth 1-7, thickness 1 cm. 



(3) Trunk : length 1'2, breadth 0'6, thickness 0"45 cm. 



(4) Constriction 0"65 cm. in breadth. 



The general colour of the colony is a dark brown aj)- 

 proaching a chocolate-colour, but when seen through a lens it 

 seems decidedly lighter. Some parts of the trunk appear 

 quite whitish ; this is due to the spicules shining through tiie 

 slightly differentiated cortical layer. Over the whole surface 

 of the stock there are pit-like depressions into which the 

 polyps have been retracted. Under a low-power microscope 

 the surface presents a peculiar warty appearance, due to 

 small hemispherical structures (groups of spicules) which are 

 lighter in colour than the general background. 



The polyps are dimorphic, the smaller siphonozooids being 

 scattered irregularly among the larger autozooids, which are 

 separated by distances varying from 1 to 3 mm. The auto- 

 zooids are all retracted except in one small depression. The 

 walls of the polyp-cavities seem to contract over the retracted 

 autozooids, the cavities measuring about 0"5 mm. across, 

 those of the si|)honozooids 0*15 to 0'2 mm. The fully 

 expanded autoznoid is about Q'li) to 1 mm. in length, and 

 the tentacles measure 0'7 mm. (sfe fig. 2). 



The (ocnenchyma is densely spiculate, the spicules varying 

 greatly in form and size in the different parts. There are 

 three distinct central canals in the stock which pass down to 

 the very tip of the trunk (fig. 3). The spicules are arranged 

 in bundles supporting the polyp-cavities. The larger polyps 

 contain numerous ova measuring 001 to 0"025 mm. in 

 diameter. 



A summary description of the s])icules is almost impossible 

 because of the number of different forms presented in even a 



