CORALS 151 
Some of them may easily be fancied to have been selected for 
haleyons’ nests, as the name suggests—the sea-fans, for example. 
ORDER ALCYONACEA 
GENUS Aleyonium 
A, palmatum. This coral community is found sometimes at low- 
water mark, but usually in deeper water, attached to shells and stones. 
It is commonly known as dead-men’s-fingers, an unpleasant name 
given it by fishermen because of a fancied resemblance to a human 
hand with only the stumps of the fingers. The substance of the coral 
is semi-cartilaginous, with scattered spicules of lime which give it 
stability. When the polyps are fully extended the colony is rather at- 
tractive in appearance, but not so when contracted. It is found in 
abundance on the New England coast. An immense Alcyonium, Para- 
gorgia arborea, grows on the fishing-banks off Newfoundland, and is 
sometimes brought up on the fishing-lines. It is tree-like in form, and 
measures six feet or more in length. 
Genus Tubipora 
The organ-pipe coral. This genus, which is deep red in color 
and very fragile, consists of many tubes slightly separated from 
Tubipora, organ-pipe coral, natural size. 
