21-2 BRITISH CORALLINES. 



tliem to tlie corticated Gorgonia, Antipatbes and Isis, yet 

 lie had done so without any apparent motive. Not so with 

 Lamarck. He gave them a precedency to all these genera — 

 classified, nevertheless, in one common order — by showing,, 

 thai on the one hand, the natural transition to the Millepores 

 was made through the medium of the reticulated polypidoms; 

 and, on the other hand, that the Corallinse, as true corticife- 

 rous polypes, terminate their section, and effect as evident 

 a passage to the " polypiers empates"" by the Penicillus and 

 Flabellaria. " Ainsi la determination du veritable rang des 

 corallines m'apartient, et serait probablement constatee si 

 Ton pouvait connaitrePorganization des polypes qui forment 

 ces polypiers." — Of the existence of these polypes, he was 

 perfectly assured, though from their necessary minuteness 

 they had hitherto eluded the sight. They will probably be 

 found to be organized like the polypes of other corticiferous 

 genera, and must necessarily be placed in the crust, for the 

 axis is not tubular, as Ellis states, but entire, full and conti- 

 nuous like that of the Gorgoniae.* 



This hypothetical reasoning of his illustrious colleague 

 had no influence over De Blainville, who, from his study of 

 living corallines, was confirmed in the belief of their being 

 algae or sea-weeds, as had been ever maintained by Olivi, 

 Spallanzani and Cavolini.-|- The more extensive experi- 

 ments and microscopical observations of Professor Schweig- 

 ger leave no doubt of the truth of this doctrine, having 

 proved to us that the basis of the corallines has the cel- 

 lular structure characteristic of the vegetable tissue but gra- 

 dually assuming the appearance of a coral from the depo- 

 sition of lime in its interior. " The deposition of calca- 



• Anim. s. Vert. ii. p. 325-328. 



+ Mem. de Polipi Marini di Filippo Cavolini, p. 2G0. 



