396 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Antipatharia. 



ignore la disposition des lamelles me'sente'roides et des organes 

 ge'ne'rateurs." 



Since then I have read Lacaze-Duthiers's memoirs ; and 

 although the spineless are separated from the spiniferous 

 species of Antipatharia under the name of " Gerardia" 

 whose polyps are evidently actinoid, nothing is so satisfac- 

 torily stated of the polyps of the spiniferous species, which in 

 contradistinction are termed " Antipathaires vrais." 



Thus, at p. 25 etseq. (torn. iv. op. cit.),we learn, respecting 

 the " Organisation des Polypes," that in A. subpinnata (Ellis 

 & Solander) , the Mediterranean species which Lacaze-Duthiers 

 had alive in an aquarium while on the coast of Africa, the 

 oral aperture was linear elliptical, surrounded by a slight 

 prominence, from which six lines radiate outwards hexagonally, 

 between each two of which is a round tubercle indicative of 

 its tentacular nature, also arranged elliptically ; that the sur- 

 face is covered with cilia, in the midst of which are groups of 

 thread-cells; and that, when viewed laterally (" de profil"), 

 under the microscope with a power of 60 diameters (p. 60), 

 an oesophageal channel may be seen to pass downwards from 

 the oral aperture or mouth, to be followed by what are con- 

 jectured to be two mesenteric laminae (" cordons pelotonnes") 

 covered with thread-cells, the remains of six of which, but for 

 an arrest of development, might have been the same as in the 

 development of the young Actinia at this period. " Ne 

 pourrait-on pas dire qu'un arr6t de developpement a frappe 

 quatre des cloisons primitives, et que deux se sont seulement 

 de'veloppe'es ?" (pp. 27,28). Finally, at p. 52, it is stated 

 respecting the reproductive process, " aussi n'ai-je rien k dire 

 de cette fonction." 



Hoping to find something more in the late lamented Count 

 Pourtales's Report on the specimens of Antipathes dredged in 

 the Caribbean Sea by the ' Blake,' under the superintendence 

 of Prof. A. Agassiz, in 1878-79, and published in February 

 last*, I consulted a copy kindly lent me by Mr. Stuart 0. 

 Ridley, F.L..S, of Ihe British Museum, for this purpose, from 

 which the following is an extract of that lamented author's 

 prefatory remarks : — 



" With regard to the polyps, the drawings herewith pre- 

 sented have the disadvantage of having all been made from 

 alcholic specimens in various stages of contraction. Still 

 there are differences from one species to another which cannot 

 be ascribed to that cause. There appears to be a connexion 



* Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College, 

 Cambridge, Mass., vol. vi. no. 4, " Report on the Corals and Antipatharia," 

 by L. F. Pourtales. 



