ALCYONAniA FROM SIXGAPORE. 517 



belongs, but at the same time exhibiting a close resemblance to it 

 in structural detail, I have read descriptions of all the species of 

 NepJithi/a which might possibly have proved to be identical with 

 N. heJfui'di. In no instance is there a greater I'esembUxnce 

 between X. bedfordi and another species of XephtJiya than exists 

 between any two established species of that genus. Indeed, the 

 exceedingly feeble development of the " Stiitzbiindel " and the 

 presence in the stem-cortex of exceptionally small, though 

 curiously comb-shaped, spicules are characters which serve cleai^ly 

 to distinguish N. hedfordi from any species ])revionsly recorded. 



Among some unpublished notes by Miss Coward, which 

 Professor Hickson has kindly placed at my disposal, the following 

 paragraph occurs : — 



"In his work on the family Nephthyidfe (1903) Kidventhal 

 names a specimen Nephthya chahrolii. In doing this he refers 

 to Hickson and Hiles' (19U0) description of N. chahrolii. These 

 writers, however, state that the spicules of their specimen are 

 just as described by Klunzinger (1877) — that is to say, they 

 do not form a ' Stiitzbiindel.' In the description of his specimen 

 Kiikenthal says the spicules only rarely project beyond the 

 polyp-heads — and yet his diagnosis is the presence of a 

 'Stiitzbiindel.'" 



This observation came to hand after the account of the new 

 species JV. bedfordi had been written and the "Stiitzbiindel" 

 desci'ibed. As stated above, the " Stiitzbiindel" was very poorly 

 developed. T then thought it advisable to examine JV. chahrolii 

 to satisfy mysylf as to the nature of the " Stiitzbiindel " in that 

 species. The specimen at my disposal was the identical one 

 described by Hickson and Hiles (1900), in Willey's collection. 

 Preparations, which have been cleared in oil of cloves and 

 examined under the binocular microscope, reveal the presence of 

 distinct bundles of spindles supporting the polyps. One or two 

 of these spicules not infrequently project beyond the polyp- 

 heads. One must admit that i^. cJuihrolii is charactei'ised by 

 the presence of a small but clearly defined " Stiitzbiindel." It 

 seemed possible that the " Stiitzbiindel " was so degenerate in 

 iV. hedfordi that the polyps might be described as being without 

 this characteristic. Were this the case, the specimen in question 

 would come under Kiikenthal's definition of the genus Litho- 

 p)hytum Forsk. I accordingly made and examined preparations 

 of Lithophyiimi arborexim ; but in this case there was no ti-ace of 

 a bundle of spicules on the abaxial sui^face of the anthocodia3 

 in the least degree comparable with the condition which I have 

 described in N. bedfordi. 



The genus Xephthya, as at the present time accepted, contains 

 a large series of species showing every gradation in the develop- 

 ment of a " Stiitzbiindel." At one end of the series is found 

 such a form as N. celosia Lesson, in which one or two of the 

 " Stiitzbiindel " spicules reach 2, mm. beyond the polyp-he;uls ; 

 in the middle X. chahrolii. in which they only project slightly ; 

 and at the other end N. hedfordi., in wliich they do not project. 



