ME. H. M. BERN'ARD ON EECEKr PORIIID^. 143 



here sketclied out is intended to seive merely as a working 

 hypothesis. It may be that a closer study of i'ossil forms will 

 reveal to us new possibilities. In the meantime, however, we 

 have to analyse the structures of the forms which we have afc our 

 disposal, and to arrange them as best we cau iu a natural order. 



Several other genera, recent and fossil, were boldly classed 

 among the Poritidae by Milne-Edwards aad Haime. Auy corals 

 showing the " trabecular " structure w^ere placed in the family, 

 which was divided into two subfamilies, Poritince and Monti- 

 porincB. 



The PoritincB contained the genera Pontes, PliodarcBa, Gonio- 

 pora, Litliarcea (foss.), Protarcea (foss.), Aloeopora, Microsolena 

 (foss.), Mceandraraea (foss.), GoscinarcEa. In addition to these, 

 Porites was divided by Verrill into Pontes and SynaroBa ; by 

 Duchassaing and Michelotti iuto Porites, Neoporites, with anew 

 genus Gosmoporites ; while Quelch added another, Napopora, and 

 described a new genus, TiGliopora, as closely allied to Rhodarcea 

 and Goniopora. 



Any adequate discussion of these genera should be preceded 

 by a detailed anatomical account of Porites and Goniopora, 

 showing their ranges of variation. Such an account is in course 

 of preparation. But iu the meantime enough has already been 

 said to make the following short notes on the claims of the various 

 genera to a place in. the family intelligible. Further, of these 

 genera 1 propose only to refer to those which I know at first 

 hand. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the fossil forms 

 (which require a much closer study than I have yet been able to 

 give to them) to desire to oifer any opinion as to their claims 

 to a place in the family. 



SynarcEa, Verrill. — This genus was separated from Porites by 

 Dr. Verrill *, on the suggestion of Milne-Edwards and Haime, to 

 contain certain forms in which the calicles are quite filled up by the 

 intercalicular skeleton, i. e. which show a mere variation in the 

 depth of the calicle. My own study of the variations in Porites 

 makes it doubtful whether this is always even a specific, much 

 less a generic distinction. 



Napopora, Quelch. — In the genus Porites there exist species 



* Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. vol. i. (1864) p. 42. 



