42f> 



Ml{. J. J. SIINIPSON ON THE 



Ell it? juul Solandei- that wo arc indebted for the introduction of 

 the terms nodes and inieniudos ; but it must be noted that 

 tlieso are nsed to describe the calcareous and horny parts 

 respectively, Avhcrcas the converse usayjc is now ado[)ted. The 

 following; is their liescription : — "Axis articulated, calcareous, 

 sparsely branched ; the cah-areous portion is white, cylindrical 

 and furrowed; the intcrnodi's are black, horny, constricted, 

 and attached to the nodes." In 1791 Esper depicted the 

 axis in three line plates, and gave a good general descri|)ti()n 

 of external icatures. Lanuirck, in 1801, placed this group 

 between tho Gorgonacea, with an axis apparently horny, and 

 the " Corail," with an entirely calcareous skeleton. In a later 

 work, published in ISIG, he narrowed down the generic dis- 

 tinctions and established a new group, " Ics Melitees " (Genus 

 2ffltf(('(i). Eollowing tliis, Lamouroux in the same year 

 established yet another division under the name of "Ics 

 Mopses " (Genus Mopsea); and at the same time united the 

 three under 'Tordre des Isidees," i.e., "tons les Coralliaires 

 dont I'axe est articide." This innovation was not accepted by 

 Blaiuville in 1S3J. (XVI.), but was adopted by Ehrenberg 1831 

 (XA^T.), Lamarck ISoU (XII.), Dana 181(3 (XIX.), and Milne- 

 Edwards «.V: Haime in subsequent works (XX., XXT,, & XXII.). 

 The classiticatiou would thus appear as follows : — 



, (1) tilt) calca- 



,.,. .,, c ((?) hi'ii'iiy ia appearance. I reous nodes = /.</.•?. 



IsidnKV with an 1 ^^ ' -, \ -^^ixii i 



, . , , ) iu'aiiclies borne on 1 (_) the honiv 



axis which bears 'i / . ^ _• ^^ 



. ^ , / I nitomodosi = Jlapsea. 



internodes ( 7v .. i ,, ,., 



(/)) or a tuberous appearance = Mchkca. 



Lamarck's ' Hist. Nat. des Anim, sans verteb.' 2nd ed. 1836, 

 vol. ii. p. 473, thus detines tho genus : — " Colony attached, tree- 

 like, composed of a jointed axis surrounded by a cortex not 

 cohering but deciduous. Axis central, erect, branched, formed 

 of ealcareons striated nodes and horny constricted internodes. 

 The cortex bears polyps in tho fresh state, but is totally or 

 partially deciduous w"heu taken from the water." Tho writer 

 discusses the question of relationship, and from tho presence of 

 liorny internodes suggests alliuity with Gofgonia and Antipathcs, 

 in which, be remarks, the axis is not calcareous but entirely 

 horny. Brief notes on the follow'ing species are also given : — 

 /. hippuris, Linn., /. eloiujatn (Esper), /. dichotoma (Linn.), 

 /. encrinula (Lamk.), /. coralloides (Lamk.), /. [iracUis (Lamk.), 

 I. erythracea (Lamk.), and /. melifcnsis (Lamk.). 



