540 Brazilian Corals and Coral Reefs. | (September, 
however, very meagre, and usually unreliable. Only a very few 
species of Brazilian corals were known, and these were mostly 
Gorgonians from the bays of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. 
The sandstone reef and coral reef regions of Brazil are nearly 
coéxtensive, but while the stone reefs are always confined to the 
immediate neighborhood of the shore, coral reefs frequently lie 
some distance out, at times forty or fifty miles. It was while 
investigating the stone reef at Porto Seguro, in 1866, that Hartt’s 
attention was first attracted to the coral reefs, one of which stretches 
across the mouth of the bay of Porto Seguro, in front of the 
sandstone structure. This reef was carefully studied, and grow- 
ing upon it were discovered all the commoner Brazilian corals. 
A year later Prof. Hartt visited the Abrolhos islands, for the pur- 
pose of examining the many reefs that cluster about that little 
group of Continental islets. The trip was a very successful one, 
resulting in the discovery of new and interesting phenomena in 
connection with the formation of coral reefs. Many corals were 
obtained, including all the species previously found at Porto Seguro, 
and these constituted the first large collection of Brazilian corals to 
be properly studied and described. The work of classifying this 
material was entrusted to Prof. Verrill, of Yale College, who de- 
cided that nearly all the forms were new to science. 
Prof. Hartt’s studies on the Brazilian coast have proved that 
Madreporian corals grow abundantly on or near the shore, from 
Maranhão southward to Cape Frio; south of which only a few 
Astrangians have been collected. Coral reefs are, however, more 
restricted in their range, as they do not pass to the southward of 
the Abrolhos region. Just to the east of the Abrolhos islands, 
between these islands and the mainland, and thence northward to 
near the city of Bahia, coral reefs are very numerous, often 
fringing the shores, but more commonly growing in large and 
irregular patches in the deeper water. From Bahia to Maranhao 
coral reefs are much less abundant, being confined to certain 
localities near the shore. The Roccas, between Fernando de 
Noronha and the coast, are, however, entirely of coral. The 
Brazilian coral fauna is very poor in species, but, as far as it goes, 
closely resembles that of the West Indies, many of its species 
being representatives ones. A large number of the commoner 3 
West Indian genera, such as Madrepora, Meeandrina, Dipl a 
ees are = Brazil. 
