76 Froceediiigs of the Royal Physical Society. 



XI. ^'Scotia'' Collections: Scottish Antarctic Expedition. — Re- 

 fort on the Antipatharians. By Professor J. Arthuk 

 Thomson, M.A. 



(Read 27th March 1905.) 



Mr W. S. Bruce, leader of the Scottish Antarctic Expedi- 

 tion, 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 distribution 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 

 Bathy^pathes, 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 ANTIPATHARIA, or ANTIPATHIDEA. 

 Family ANTIPATHIDiE. 



Sub-Family ScHizoPATHiNiE, 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 pre- 

 parations. But his conclusion, which I have carefully 

 verified, was that all the specimens belonged to Bathypathes 

 patida, var. plenispina, of which the " Challenger " Collection 

 had one specimen. There is therefore no need to print 



