304 ESCHARHXE. 



Naples, Hemescharinc as well as the usual form ; also 

 var. a. (A. W. Waters) : Cape of Good Hope ; Indian 

 Ocean (Pallas). 



RANGE IN TIME. Italian Pliocene (Manzoni) : Sicilian 

 Pliocene, Bruccoli (A. W. Waters). 



This species not unfrequently occurs as a simple crust *, 

 and in this state bears a very strong resemblance to Le- 

 pralia Pallasiana. In its erect and foliated condition it 

 often attains a luxuriant growth, and forms large coral- 

 like masses. The usual height of specimens is from 3 to 4 

 inches ; but Couch mentions that he had seen one hooked 

 up by a fisherman off the Eddystone, which measured 

 7 feet 4 inches in circumference and 1 foot in depth. 

 Off the South-Devon coast it occurs abundantly, and often 

 attains a large size ; but I have seen nothing approaching 

 this Cornish giant. Being thin and extremely brittle, it 

 is very liable to be broken up by the dredge ; and usually 

 only fragments reach the surface. In its sheltered cavi- 

 ties many creatures find a home, while the incrusting 

 Polyzoa spread in great luxuriance over its even sur- 

 face f. 



L. foliacea is essentially a southern form : on the 

 warmer western side of Scotland it has been taken in the 

 Minch; and this is so far its most northerly locality. 



* " The first appearance of its rising into a Inmellated form is the pro- 

 duction of detached ridges and papillary eminences ; as these become more 

 elevated they assume the form described above. " COUCH, Cornish Fauna, iii. 

 p. 132. 



t Membranipora Fkmingii and Membraniporella nitida are very commonly 

 found upon it. 



