500 Mr. II. y\. Bernard on the 



lias not been revised in this respect), are the principal genus 

 of the Madreporavian subfamily Turbinariinse. This sub- 

 family is distinguished by the following ciiaracters : — Growth 

 always by gemmation; coenenchyma abundant, always distinct 

 from the mural tissue, spongy and reticulated ; at least 

 six principal septa, equally developed. Of the five genera of 

 the Turbinariinaj three are fossil, leaving two — Turhinaria 

 and Astrceopora — the chief distinction between which is the 

 absence of a columella in the latter. 



As compared with the subfamily Madreporinje, containing 

 the single genus Madrepora, the fundamental distinctions 

 given are : in Aladrejwra the coenenchyma is only slightly, 

 or not at all, distinct from the mural tissue, which is very 

 porous, and the chambers are divided by the directive septa. 



My work on the Turbinarians has convinced me that this 

 arrangement is entirely artificial and that it does not accord 

 with the facts. One of these assumed distinctions does not 

 exist, while the most fundamental difference, viz. the methods 

 of budding, is entirely ignored. 



It is true that in the introduction to the ' Coralliaires ' 

 (p. 35) the method of budding of Turbinarians is referred 

 to ; but it is nowhere used in the purely systematic part as 

 a character even of the slightest value. 



This abandonment of what appears to me to be the most 

 fundamental taxonomic character of the genus was a retrograde 

 step much to be deplored. The value of the different methods 

 of budding in the classification of the corals had been distinctly 

 laid down by Ehrenberg in 1834'^, while Dana, in 1848, 

 endeavoured to carry it out in detail in his magnificent attempt 

 to classify the zoophytes of the United States Exploring 

 Expedition. The practical rejection of this character by 

 Milne-Edwards in favour of other and more artificial distinc- 

 tions, whatever other consequences it may have had, has 

 certainly delayed the establishment of a natural system of 

 classification of the corals. It stands to reason that the 

 different methods of budding, with their far-reaching conse- 

 quences in bringing about the ultimate forms of the coralla, 

 cannot be ignored. Its value is, as I shall show, abundantly 

 exemplified in the case of the genus Turhinaria^ and it must 

 take its place side by side with other characters if the corals 

 are to be arranged according to the demands of the modern 

 theory of descent f. 



* ' Korallenthiere des rothen Meeres,' Berlin. 



t That there is a very general revival of the recognition of the value 

 of the method of budding for the classification of the corals may be 

 gathered from the following papers :—S. O. Kidley, ''On the Classifi- 



