62 ME. J. Y. JOHisrsoN OTf THE [Jan. 17, 



necks, already described as being found in both Ihe preceding 

 species ; {'2) the short, stout, cylindrical spicule with two whorls of 

 four rays, the " octoradiate spiculi " of Eidley, also present in the 

 cortex of the two foi'egoing species, but here the latter is more 

 regular and symmetrical ; (3) a form bearing a general resemblance 

 to (1), but with the nnited bodies more elongate, and each member 

 pear-shaped or poke-like and smooth. This form is peculiar to 

 the present species. (See Plate VII. figs. 2 & 5.) 



This species occurs very rarely, but it is met with rather more 

 frequently than any of the others. Only five specimens are known 

 to me, the largest of which, as well as the one first discovered, 

 were presented to the British Museum. The former of these has 

 a height of 210 millim. (8 in.) and a spread of 315 millim. (12 in.). 

 The stem, before it begins to throw ofl:' branches, has a thickness of 

 27 millim. Fortunately the base came up with the rest ; it is a 

 thin plate measuring 83 by 70 millim. There are four principal 

 branches, whicli are again divided and subdivided in an irregular 

 manner. At one part there are three overlapping layers of 

 branches and in another t\^'o overlapping layers, but no instance 

 of two branches meeting and uniting. 



Another fine specimen in an excellent state of preservation was 

 secured by the Eev. Padre Schmitz for the Seminario Museum, 

 Punchal. It has the same height as the preceding but is not so 

 wide by 50 mm. The coral is curved from side to side, so that the 

 polype-bearing face is convex and the other face concave. The 

 base has been left behind, the stem having given way at a place 

 where it had been much perforated by boring animals. The 

 section here measures 22 millim. by 18. There are five main 

 branches, the longer axes of which measure from 10 to 15 millim. 

 On the posterior side three secondary branches strike off from 

 main branches at angles which are more than right angles above 

 and consequently less below. The specimen is figured on Plate VI. 

 A third, much smaller specimen is in my possession. The under- 

 side of the spreading base, 55 millim. by 40, the longer axis being 

 nearly parallel with the plane of the branches, is flat with a smooth 

 surface, and bears impressions of three species of creeping bryozoa 

 that had settled upon the supporting body before the coral grew over 

 them. I have also one valve of the great sessile cirripede, Pachy- 

 lasma giganteum (Phil.), measuring 36 millim. by 22, the exterior 

 of which is completely coated with the coenenchyma of the coral, 

 and this has thrown up several polype-cells, but has not secreted a 

 stony basis. This shows that the polypes secrete the hard compact 

 axis simply as a support for the increasing colony. 



In M. H. Pilhol's work on the submarine explorations of the 

 ' Talisman ' (1884), he says that at the Cape Verd Islands, " entre 

 500 et 600 metres nous avons rencontre une forme d'alcyouaire 

 extremement interessante au point de vue zoologique, appelee par 

 M. Marion Ooralliopsis perieri. Elle rappelle beaucoup le Oorallium 

 secundum de Dana vivant aux iles Fidji." This may have been an 

 example of PleurocoralUum johnsoni. 



