( 324 ) 



specimens of precious coral are the Banda seas. As already mentioned 

 the Challenger discovered precious coral in deep water off the Banda 

 and Ki islands but the specimens were "dead" and it was consequently 

 impossible to determine definitely to what species they belong but 

 they were referred by Ridley to the species Pleitrocoral/ium secundum. 



In the material that was kindly sent to me by Prof. Max Weber 

 from the rich collections of H. M. Siboga there were a few small 

 pieces of a beautiful coral which I reeognised at once to be a Coral- 

 liid. There can be no doubt that it was alive when captured by the 

 dredge and it reached me, not fully expanded, but in a good state 

 of preservation. 



The loeality of this find was station 280 i. e. at a depth of 1224 

 metres in the middle of the strait that separates the E. end of the 

 island of Timor from the small island Lette or in other words on 

 the Southern boundary of the Banda Sea. 



The axis of this coral is covered with very little or hardly any 

 crust, is apparently as hard as the best Italian coral and is of a good 

 colour although a little darker than that which is regarded by the 

 jewellers as the best quality. 



The discovery of this specimen suggests that the dark skinned 

 "Kurombo" iïsherman that supplied the ancient Japanese jewellers 

 with their precious coral lived some where within the region of 

 Timor. It is of course improbable that they were able to fish in 

 such a great depth as 1224 metres but as the species of Corallium 

 range in depth from 10 fathoms to several hundred fathoms, it is 

 quite possible that they had knowledge of shallow waters off their 

 coast where the coral grew abundantly. 



It is not for me to suggest that there is a prospect of a valuable 

 coral fishery in the Banda seas ; but now that it is known that 

 livig precious coral does occur in deep water in this region of 

 the world it woidd not be a matter of surprise to scientific men if 

 it were subsequently found at depths sufficiently shallow to be 

 obtained by ordinary fishing boats. 



The specimen obtained by the Siboga does not agree exactly with 

 any known Coralliidae in those characters which are used by sys- 

 tematists for the separation of species and it is necessary to find 

 a new name for it, and I should like with Her royal permission to 

 name it Corallium reginae in honour of Her Majesty the Queen of 

 Holland whose interest in Zoological Science in general and in the 

 researches of H. M. Siboga in particular has been manifested on 

 more than one occasion. 



