The important boring to ascertain the structure of coral-reefs 

 which has talgen place during the past years on Funafuti in the 

 South Sea^) affords an interesting view of the fact, that the cal- 

 careous algae often act as a l\ind of morfar in holding together 

 the reef-building corals, and even to higher degree contribute to 

 this building worlv. The specimens from the said boring which is 

 brought down to a considerable depth show, that these algae occa- 

 sionall}' if not frequently occup}' a rather prominent part in bulk. 



During a visit to London last spring I had the opportunity 

 throLigh the kindness of Prof. John W. Judd to see, in the Geo- 

 logical Department of the Ro3'al Society of Science, some samples 

 from the above mentioned boring. However, the grinding for mi- 

 croscopic examination was not so far advanced, that the calcareous 

 algae were fitted for a more careful investigation to determine the 

 species, or to ascertain with certaint\' the proportion in bulk. 



Besides the boring other investigations simultaneously have 

 been undertaken, as dredgings so as to get a general view of the 

 present flora and fauna of the atoll of Funafuti. Among the col- 

 lections thus brought together are also some Lithothamnia. I have 

 examined two specimens of them. The one is according to the 

 label picked up from the considei-able depth of 41 fathoms off 

 Tutaga. I consider it a form hitherto not described of L. Philippii 

 and propose to name it 

 Lithothamnion Philippii Fosl. f. funafutiensis Fos), mscr. 



The specimen comcides in the main with the typical form of 

 that species hitherto onl}' known from the Mediten-anean, but no 



1) w. J. Sol las, Report to the Committee of the Royal Society appointeci to 

 Investigate the Structure of a Coral Reef by Boring. — Proc. of the Royal 

 Society. Vol. 60. London 1897. P. 50. 



