﻿162 M ADEEPORAEI A. 



Treated as fragments alone they would be arranged under three separate headings. Compare 

 specimens a to c from the same locality. 



One of these specimens is remarkable for the small chambers in its upper surface, the 

 mouths of some of which are partially closed by a ring of curved spikes not unlike septa, the 

 whole chamber thus looking Like a rather irregular calicle. These chambers seem to have 

 been inhabited by small Crustacea, the chitinous skins of which can still be seen in many 

 of them. 



u. (Five fragments of fronds.) Amboyna. Vienna Museum. 



(10) The last is a small but beautiful fragment which apparently belongs to this species 

 and was so classified by Bassett-Smith. 



w. Macclesfield Bank, 20.^ fathoms. H.M.S. ' Eambler.' 89. 9. 24. 59. 



132. Montipora crassifolia. (PI. XXXIV. fig. 15.) 



(Established provisionally to embrace those thicker-leaved foUate Montipores in which the fronds 

 bend upwards and form a deep bowl of crumpled leaves, the edges of which fray out. See 

 above the prefatory notes to Montipora foliosa.) 



Description. — Corallum a deep, bowl-shaped cup with nearly perpendicular sides, com- 

 posed of thick (5 mm.) leaves with a spiral twist more or less pronounced, the leaves mostly 

 very wrinkled and ragged along the upper edges. The hollow of the bowl is filled with 

 curling wrinkled leaves which freely fuse, and the outer surface is gnarled by the wrinkles 

 and by thick ridges which run out into projections. The epitheca only traceable right under 

 the base of the bowl. 



Calicles very scattered and very unequal in size, a few reaching nearly 1 mm. in 

 diameter. They occur in irregular groups or rows with spaces sometimes 4 mm. wide 

 between. The septa in two cycles, but the second may be imperfect while, on the other 

 hand, in single large calicles traces of a third cycle may appear, the septa then all being small 

 and the fossa very large and distinct. The primaries very frequently terminate in distinct 

 knobs ; directives generally conspicuous. The calicles on the outer side of the fronds do not 

 differ from those on the Loner, except when situated in unfavourable places. 



Ccenenchyma shows a very pronounced laminate streaming layer which comes to the 

 surface for 1 to 2 cm. deep along the growing edges. ThLs gives a finely striate appearance to 

 the smooth zone of the under surface, but on the upper surface it rises in feathery ridges and 

 tubercles in which the streaming of the ccenenchyma is quite distinct. The thickening layers 

 are very irregular and seem to be a reticulum largely composed of solid blocks which either 

 form a mosaic at the surface or else rise into tall stout tubercles. Hence, the surface is very 

 iiTBgular, consisting of patches of smooth mosaic, each block being finely frosted and granu- 

 lated, or else very rough and rugged owing to the dense masses of coarse granulated tubercles. 

 These tubercles tend to rise into tall rings round individual calicles which, by the fusion of 



