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Antipatharians of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. By Professor 

 J. Arthur Thomson, M.A., University of Aberdeen. 



{(Read at Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, 27th March 1905. Revised 17th March 1908.) 



Mr W. S. BRUCE, leader of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, sent to me 

 for examination and report a collection of twelve specimens of Antipatharians, made 

 in the course of the Scotia voyage. 



The collection, though small, may be of interest in regard to the geographical dis- 

 tribution of this primitive and extremely divergent order of Zoantharians. As the 

 Antipatharians, or Antipathidea, form what must be called, relatively speaking, a small 

 order, it is not surprising to find that the Scotia collection included in its twelve 

 specimens only three species. It is more remarkable that these all belong to the genus 

 Bathypathes, established by the late Mr GEORGE BROOK in his Challenger Eeport. 

 The specimens were preserved in formol, but this seems a quite unsuitable fixative for 

 such forms, as far as histological details are concerned. Sections were made of the 

 best of the specimens, but they were unsatisfactory. Where there are no calcareous 

 structures to deal with, Bles's fluid might perhaps be tried in the future. 



Order ANT1PATHARIA, or ANTIPATHIDEA. 



Family ANTIPATHID^. 

 Sub-Family SCHIZOPATHIN^;, Brook. 

 Genus Bathypathes, Brook. 



1. Bathypathes patula, var. plenispina, Brook. 



I entrusted five specimens, which I thought might be new, to Mr JOHN ANDERSON, 

 a student in the Advanced Course of Zoology in the University of Aberdeen, who gave 

 me a detailed description of them, and made sections and preparations. But his con- 

 clusion, which I have carefully verified, was that all the specimens belonged to Bathy- 

 pathes patula, var. plenispina, of which the Challenger Collection had one specimen. 

 There is therefore no need to print Mr ANDERSON'S description, though a few of his 

 data may be of service. 



Three of the five specimens were attached to small stones. All were gracefully 

 curved pinnate colonies, with the branches nearly, but not quite, opposite, and not 

 quite in one plane. The lower branches make an acute angle with those of the 

 opposite side, but this angle increases with the following branches till the two at 

 the very top make a very large obtuse angle with one another. 



(REPRINTED FROM THK PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, VOL. xvi.) 



