370 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [^pr. 26, 



The corallites enlarge rapidly after haviug originated as buds. 



The epitheca is very stout, and is strongly marked by transverse 

 ridges and intermediate depressions. 



The costse are visible on the upper surface of the corallum. 



The calices are unequal, usually circular in outline, shallow, with 

 stout margins. They project but slightly. 



The columella is well developed and large. 



The septa are in six systems, and there are three cycles of them 

 in each. The primary and secondary septa are nearly equal, and 

 reach the columella. The septa of the third cycle are small, and do 

 not reach far inwards. The endothecal dissepiments are oblique 

 and scanty. 



Diameter of calices -J^ to '-^-^ inch. 



The iSoIenastrcece no longer inhabit the European seas, and no 

 trace of them occurs in the dredgings of the North Atlantic Sea, 

 of the Lusitanian coasts, and of the Mediterranean. They are not 

 deep-sea forms, but are compound epithecate and exotheeate corals 

 suited for reef-building. 



They abound in the reefs of the E,ed Sea, of the Indian and Great 

 Ocean, and amongst the West-Indian reefs. 



The fossil species have been found in the following localities : — 



Eocene — Fort Saint Pierre, Ghent*. 



OUgocene — Monte Grumi, Montecchio Maggiore, Monte Viale, and 

 Monte delle Carrioli, in the District of Castel Gomberto, in the 

 Yicentinf. 

 Brockenhurst and Roydon, in Hampshire ±. 



Miocene — The Paluns, and Miocene of Turin and of Styria§. 

 Miocene of Antigua || . 



liaised Reefs — Red Sea ^ . 



The new species differs from the Eocene type by having a well- 

 marked columella, and in its septal arrangement. 



Its small number of septa distinguishes it from the Oligocene 

 forms. 



The well-developed columella and the septal number associate 

 th« new species with the Miocene Solenastrcea turonensis, Ed. & H., 

 of the Faluns, Turin, Styria, and Antigua, and with the recent S. 

 Bournoni, Ed. & H., Antilles, S. Forslccelcma, Ed. & H., Red Sea, 

 S. sarcinula, Ed. & H., Indian Ocean, and S. Bowerhanki, Ed. & 

 H., Singapore, The closest alliance is with the West-Indian recent 



* 8olenastr(sa Verhelsti, Ed. & H., is found amongst the Upper Miocene of 

 the West Indies. 



t SolenastrcBa conferfa, Reuss, and 8. columnaris, Eeuss, Pal. Stud, iiber die 

 alteren Tertiar. der Alpen. Wien. Akad. der Wissensch. 1867. 



+ Pal. Soc. Lond. P. M. Duncan, 1866. 



§ SolenastrcBa turonensis, Ed. & H. Hist. Nat. des Corall. vol. ii. p. 488. 



11 " Foss. Corals of West Indies," Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Dec. 1867, and 

 previous papers. 



^ SolenastrcBa gibhosa, Ed. & H. op. cit. p. 496. 



