1 92 TABULATE CORALS. 



entertained as to the identity of the coral which Goldfuss de- 

 scribed and figured under the name of C. alveolata, with that of 

 the coral subsequently described and figured by Hall under the 

 designation of Favistella stellata (Pal. N.Y., vol. i. p. 275, PI. 

 LXXV., fig. i). Indeed, the original specimens described by 

 Goldfuss were derived from North America. 



It is certain, then, that the genus Columnaria, if kept at all, 

 can only be retained for corals having the characters of C. alveo- 

 lata, Goldf. ( = Favistella stellata, Hall); and there is also no 

 doubt that the strict law of priority demands that this course 

 should be followed, and that the ill-characterised genus of Gold- 

 fuss should take precedence over the properly-defined Favistella 

 of Hall. I have elsewhere pointed out (Sec. Rep. Pal. Ont, p. 

 21) that this course is attended with grave inconvenience, in 

 consequence of the fact that the name of Columnaria alveolata 

 has been used generally, as by Hall, Billings, and others, for 

 an entirely different species to that so designated by Goldfuss. 

 In deference, however, to the opinion of authorities whom 

 I respect, I shall consider Favistella, Hall, as a synonym of 

 Columnaria, and I shall subsequently discuss the characters of 

 the coral which has been generally, but erroneously, described 

 as Columnaria alveolata, Goldf. 



Taking, then, the true C. alveolata of Goldfuss (the Favistella 

 stellata of American palaeontologists) as the type of the genus 

 Columnaria, we find that the genus includes massive corals, 

 of a hemispheric, pyriform, or irregularly spheroidal shape, and 

 often of large size, composed of prismatic or polygonal coral- 

 lites, which radiate outwards from the base of attachment. The 

 walls of the corallites are not excessively thickened, and con- 

 tiguous tubes are usually in contact throughout their entire 

 length. An occasional and partial separation of the corallites 

 close to their mouths can, however, be sometimes observed ; 

 and in an allied species (C. calicina, Nich.) the tubes become 

 to a large extent disjunct, though never wholly so, in the upper 

 portion of the corallum. The boundary-lines between contigu- 

 ous corallites are never completely obliterated (PI. X., figs, i 



