7 o TABULATE CORALS. 



older date these being, in the majority of cases, the only 

 data available to the worker. I have discussed this point 

 at some length, because it seems to me a matter of import- 

 ance that every observer should receive due credit for his 

 labour, and that the principle involved is one of some 

 concern to all palaeontologists and zoologists; and I am 

 happy to know that in this special case I have the entire 

 concurrence of my friend Mr George J. Hinde, whose wide 

 acquaintance with the American Palaeozoic Corals generally, 

 and with these forms in particular, renders his opinion on 

 such a question of peculiar value. I need hardly add that 

 I do not suppose for one moment that Dr Rominger has 

 intentionally done an injustice to his predecessors, and I 

 trust that a reconsideration of all the facts of the case will 

 induce him to alter his decision on this point. 



In its general form and habit, F. hemispherica, Yand. and 

 Shum., is of the type of F. Gothlandica, Lam., its corallum being 

 massive, and its corallites essentially polygonal. The prismatic 

 shape of the tubes is, however, not so conspicuous as in the 

 latter species, partly because the angles of the prisms really are 

 often obtusely rounded, and partly because the walls of the 

 corallites are much thicker (PI. III., fig. 3). Without having the 

 obvious intermixture of large and small tubes which character- 

 ises F. Forbesi, E. and H., there is a considerable want of 

 uniformity in the size of the corallites, and it is not unusual for 

 particular parts of the corallum to be occupied by tubes of less 

 than the average dimensions, while in other parts the average 

 diameter is maintained or exceeded. Upon the whole, the 

 majority of the corallites are from three-quarters of a line to a 

 line in diameter, the latter measurement being only rarely ex- 

 ceeded. I formerly included under this name (loc. cit^ colonies 

 in which the tubes have an average diameter of from half a line 



o 



to three-quarters of a line ; but I feel doubt as to whether these 

 really belong to this species, as I have not been able to exa- 

 mine their internal structure fully. Septa are present in the 

 form of irregular spines, which can be observed in specimens 



