Vol. 51.] AND PHYSICAL GEOLOGY OP THE WEST INDIES. 257 



•which is of value, as it contains many specimens in excellent pre- 

 servation from the High-level Beefs. Col. H. W. Feilden also 

 grasped the importance of the study of the fauna of the oldest raised 

 reefs, and collected some specimens from the highest available 

 points ; these are unfortunately in imperfect preservation, but are 

 of value from the care with which the altitudes have been recorded. 

 C. E. Easton, Esq., C.E., has also presented to the British Museum 

 a large series of specimens from various shafts and tunnels made 

 by him for the Barbados Waterworks Co. Finally the Bt. Bev. 

 Bishop Mitchinson has given to the British Museum a collection of 

 over a thousand specimens of mollusca from the Low-level Beefs 

 near Bridgetown. These are recorded in the third part of the 

 present paper. 



I must apologize, to those who have so generously helped with 

 material, for the long delay in the completion of this paper. The 

 part dealing with the corals was finished in the autumn of 1892, 

 and was then ready for publication. The manuscript was, however, 

 stolen a few months later when my luggage was looted on the 

 eastern coast of Africa. As the notes on the Paris types were lost 

 at the same time, it has been necessary to leave out references to 

 many of the species — especially of Mceandrina — -founded by Milne- 

 Edwards and Haime, which I believe to be only synonyms. 



II. The Coeals of the Baised Beefs of Barbados. 



Considering the confusion in the synonymy of the West Indian 

 Corals, a mere list of species would be useless. The synonymy of 

 the species is therefore given in some detail, in order that the value 

 assigned to each may be easily recognized. 



The classification adopted is that of Duncan's ' Bevision of the 

 Madreporaria,' ' as this is still the most convenient for systematists. 

 The later schemes of Ortmann 2 may have a more scientific basis, 

 but at present they are not in a form that can be recommended for 

 general adoption. A classification that unites Lithophyllia, Mussu, 

 Symphifllia, and Diploria into one family and then places Mussa 

 Harti, Eusmilia, and Euphyllia in a different order ; which places 

 Oculina and Heliastrcea in one family and separates Pectinia and 

 Manicina into different orders, is too revolutionary to be accepted 

 without much further evidence in its support. At present it seems 

 very like a reductio ad absurdum of the principles on which it 

 is based. 



1 Journ. Linn. Soc, Zool. vol. xviii. (1884) pp. 1-204. 



2 ' Beobachtungen an Steinkorallen von der Siidkiiste Ceylons,' Zool. Jahrb. 

 vol. iv. (1889), Abt. f. Syst. pp. 548-554, and ' Die Morphologie des Skelettes 

 der Steinkorallen in Beziehung zur Koloniebildung,' Zeitechr. f. wiss. Zool. 

 vol. 1. (1890) pp. 314, 315. 



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