404 THE SCARLET MADREPORE. 



The plates are all very rough, with irregular pro- 

 jections and erosions. They do not rise in an arched 

 outline above the level of the margin, but the whole 

 surface is concave. I have described and delineated 

 what appears to be the normal arrangement, though 

 this in fact is adhered to in different degrees of pre- 

 cision. 



The form of the calcareous skeleton identifies this 

 interesting addition to the British Corals with the 

 genus Balatiojjhyllia of Mr. Searles Wood ; a fossil 

 species of which has been found in the Crag. The 

 royal colours in which the present species is arranged 

 — scarlet and gold — suggest the specific name of I'egia. 

 The distinctive characters of the skeleton may be thus 

 summed up. 



Balanophyllia regia. — Corallum cylindrical or sub- 

 conic, fixed by a rather broad base. Four cycles of 

 septa. Cup circular, much depressed. Plates not 

 rising above the border ; much crenulated, and rough- 

 ened with grains. Margin thin, distinct. Columella 

 strongly developed, spongy. Epitheca investing, to 

 the edge of the cup ; beneath which extend low ridges, 

 close-set, rough, and geniculate. 



I afterwards found the same species in considerable 

 number, especially during the very low springs of the 

 October new moon, among the rocks off the Tunnels, 

 all in the vicinity of the spot where I found the first. 

 They were always in the same circumstances, crowded 

 into colonies ; one little cavity, just large enough to 

 turn in, containing perhaps a hundred, speckling the 

 walls with their little scarlet disks, near extreme low 

 water. Not one that I took presented the least varia- 



