604 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 511. 



series from one locality grades into a series 

 from another locality; this kind of variation 

 is exceedingly complex and almost impossible 

 to distinguish from the vegetative, (c) Dis- 

 continuous or specific variation. The author 

 says a species in one locality may show dis- 

 continuous variations in one or more char- 

 acters, but it by no means follovps that the 

 same discontinuous variations will be shown 

 by the same species in a different locality. 

 Work on a collection from a single locality is 

 best calculated to bring out the phenomenon, 

 but one requires a collection from some other 

 locality for comparison. 



II. Astrwidm. — About 400 of the specimens 

 collected belong to this family. They are 

 divided into 69 species and 21 genera. The 

 author obtained in the Pacific only 12 genera, 

 and Klunzinger obtained from the Red Sea 

 16 genera (omitting synonyms). This shows 

 that in the Maldive and Laccadive archipela- 

 goes this group of corals is quite rich in both 

 species and genera. In the arrangement of 

 the genera Duncan's classification is followed, 

 and the author correctly says this work is in 

 need of thorough revision. 



The following is a list of the genera with 

 the number of species referred to each, and 

 the names of the forms considered new: 



Antillia, 1, A. constricta Brug., var. maldi- 

 vensis nov. ; Cylicia, 1 ; Tridacophyllia, 1 ; 

 Euphyllia, 2 ; ? Mycetophyllia, 1 ; Mussa, 1 ; 

 Symphyllia, 1 ; Cceloria, 6, C. cooperi, nov., 

 G. magna, nov.; Leptoria, 1; Hydnophora, 4, 

 H. grandis, nov., H. maldivensis, nov.; Favia, 

 10, F. adduensis, nov., F. laccadivica, nov., 

 F. hululensis, nov., F. parvimurata, nov.; 

 Goniastrcea, 4; Aphrastroea, 1; Orhicella, 8, 



0. minikoiensis, nov., 0. horradailei, nov.; 

 Cyphastrwa, 6; C. suvadivce, nov., C. maldi- 

 vensis, ' nov. ; Echinopora, 4 ; E. tertia, nov., 

 E. magna, nov.; Oalaxea, 5; Btephanocoenia, 



1, ;S^. maldivensis, n. sp. ; Acanthastraea, 1, 2 

 vars. ; Prionastrcea, 7, P. suvadivce, nov.; Mer- 

 ulina, 2. 



The reviewer thinks that it is to be regretted 

 that Mr. Gardiner followed the classification 

 of Duncan. Since the publication of the lat- 

 ter author's ' Revision of the Families and 

 Genera of the Madreporaria,' considerable 



progress has been made in the classification of 

 the Madreporaria and in the correction of the 

 nomenclature. The family name Astrseidee 

 can not be used in corals because no genus 

 of corals can bear that name. A discussion 

 of the name Astrea or Astrwa will be found in 

 the reviewer's ' Eocene and Lower Oligocene 

 Coral Faunas of the United States.'* It has 

 been known for some time that the genera 

 referred to this family by Milne Edwards and 

 Haime would have to be distributed in quite 

 a number of families. Attempts at reclassifi- 

 cation have been made by Verrill, Koby, Ogil- 

 vie-Gordon, Gregory, Felrx and the reviewer. 

 Morphologic proof of the correctness of some 

 of these attempts has recently been published 

 by Professor Duerden in his ' Recent Results 

 on the Morphology and Development of Coral 

 Polyps.'t It seems that it would have been 

 preferable for Mr. Gardiner to have utilized 

 this literature and arranged his specimens 

 more or less in accord with the suggestions 

 contained there ; but it must be admitted that 

 the results so far obtained are not always 

 definite, and Mr. Gardiner would have been 

 obliged to supplement by his own work these 

 attempts at reclassification. Knowing the 

 present status of the problem, he evidently pre- 

 ferred following the system of Duncan al- 

 though he knew it was faulty. 



Several of the generic names used by Mr. 

 Gardiner will have to be changed. The name 

 Tridacophyllia, de Blainville, should become 

 Pectinia Oken.:j: According to Professor Ver- 

 rill! ^-hi® genera Mussa and Symphyllia must 

 be combined. The genus Cceloria is consid- 

 ered separate from Mceandrina M. E. & H. 

 (not Meandrina Lamarck, 1801). Both Pro- 

 fessor Verrill and the reviewer believe that 

 the species hitherto divided into those two 

 genera should be combined into one. This 



* ' Monograph U. S. Geological Survey,' Vol. 

 XXXIX., p. 154, 1900. 



t ' Smithsonian Miscell. Coll. Quart. Issue,' Vol. 

 XLVIL, pp. 93-111, 1904. 



J Vaughan, ' Some Fossil Corals from the Ele- 

 vated Reefs of Curacao, Arube and Bonaire,' 

 Samml. Geolog. Reichs.-Mus. Leiden, ser. ii., Bd. 

 II., p. 15, 1901. 



§ Trans. Conn. Acad. Sci., Vol. XI., p. 177, 1902. 



