II 



tor derfor være tilgiveligt, om Arbeidet i flere Henseender 

 bliver mangelfuldt. Den Hjælp, jeg havde ventet mig af 

 min nu afcløde Ven og Medarbeider. Dr. Johan Koren, 

 svigtede. Allerede for henved 4 Aar siden blev han som 

 Følge af en Hjerneapoplexie lammet i høire Arm og syg- 

 nede efterhaanden hen, saa at han intet Arbeide egentlig 

 kunde udføre fra den Tid. 



I systematisk Henseende har jeg væsentligst fulgt 

 H. Milne-Edwards System i „Histoire naturelle de Coral- 

 liaires' ; , der i sit Princip forekommer mig at være baade 

 naturligt og hensigtsmæssigt, omendskjønt jeg vel har ind- 

 seetj at det treenger til en gjennemgaaende Omordning 

 lor ret at tilfredsstille Tidens Krav. Men jeg mener, at 

 førend Alcvoniderne have været unclerkastede en gjennem- 

 gribende Revision paa Basis af den nyere Forskning med 

 dens Hjælpemidler, og førend et større og nyere Material 

 er tilveiebragt. vil ethvert Forsøg paa at forandre den 

 systematiske Ordning af Alcyonidernes Familie kun være 

 et Lapværk. Ser man blot hen til Slægten Alcyonium, 

 saa kan den i Sandhed betragtes som en Samlekasse, 

 hvori mange, temmelig heterogene Dyr inden Familien ere 

 blevne henkastede, uden at man har holdt sig til de for 

 Slægten opstillede Karakterer. 



Jeg har fundet det nødvendigt at benytte de anato- 

 misk-histologiske Fund som Hjælpemidler til Bestemmelsen 

 saavel af Slægter som Arter; udelukkende at lægge dem 

 til Grund for en systematisk Inddeling har jeg ikke trøstet 

 mig til, da Materialet dertil ei har været omfattende nok. 



Saavel Spiklernes Form som deres Anordning og 

 Lokaliseren har jeg benyttet ved Diagnoserne; de have 

 afgivet baade for Slægter og Arter, væsentligst for de sidstes 

 Vedkommende, ret gode Karakterer, og de ville faa en 

 endnu større Betydning som karakteristiske Kjendetegn, efter- 

 haanden som Studiet af Alcyonidernes Familie fremmes i 

 den Retning. Undersøgelserne ere jo meget møisommelige, 

 men de lønne sig dog tilsidst. 



Saavidt mig bekjendt har der hidtil ikke været paa- 

 vist noget Nervesystem hos Alcvoniderne, og hvad jeg med 

 Hensjn hertil har fundet, er jo langtfra noget udtømmende, 

 — det er kun Antydninger til et Nervesystem, som frem- 

 tidige Undersøgelser paa levende Dyr nok vil komplettere. 

 Kun hos en Slægt og det kun hos en af dens Arter, 

 nemlig Væringia mirabilis, har det rykkedes mig at paa- 

 vise paa den øverste Del af Svælgets Bugflade en Gruppe 

 store G-anglieceller med en protoplasmarig Uclløber, og 

 under disse, særegne mindre, runde, klare Celler, samt 

 yderst fine Fibriller, der alt synes at tilhøre Nerveappa- 

 ratet, se Side 7. 



Paa samtlige de Arter, jeg har undersøgt, har Svælg- 

 røret (Øsophagus) paa dets indvendige Side, langs Bug- 

 fladen, en Grube, tapetseret med lange Pidskeceller. 

 Alcyoniderne synes med Hensyn hertil at nærme sig 

 Zoanthiclerne, der heller ikke har mere end en Svælg- 

 grube, imedens som bekjendt Actinierne have to. Hos en 

 Slægt tindes en særegen Differentieren af Svælgrøret, hvor- 



alcohol, and it it may therefore be pardoned if the Avork, 

 in several respects, is faulty. The assistance I had hoped 

 to receive, from my lately deceased friend and collaborateur 

 Dr. Johan Koren, failed me. Already, nearly four years 

 ago. he experienced a shock of paralysis which deprived 

 him of the use of the right arm. and he gradually faded 

 away, so that, from that time, he had not been able to 

 undertake any real work. 



In regard to system, I have principally followed that 

 of H. Milne-Edwards in ,,Histoire naturelle de Coralliaires" 

 which, in its principle, appears, to me, to be' both natural 

 and serviceable; although I have been well aware that it 

 requires a thorough rearrangement in order to satisfy 

 modern requirements. But I am of opinion that, until 

 the Alcyonids have undergone a radical revision on the 

 basis of subsequent research, and the assistance it affords; 

 and until a more abundant and newer material has been 

 obtained; every attempt to alter the systematic arrange- 

 ment of the family of the Alcyonida will only be a patch- 

 work. If we only look at the genus Alcyonium, it may 

 truly be regarded as a repository in which many rather 

 heterogeneous animals of the family have been placed, 

 without the characteristics established for the genus being 

 adhered to. 



I have found it necessary to make use of the ana- 

 tomo-histological discoveries as aids in the determination 

 both of genera and species, but I have not ventured to adopt 

 them, exclusively, as the basis of a systematic arrange- 

 ment, as the material has not been sufficiently comprehensive. 



I have employed in the diagnoses, both, the form 

 of the spicules, as well as their arrangement and localis- 

 ation; they have given, both for genera and species, but 

 principally in respect of the last-named, particularly good 

 characteristics, and they will obtain a still greater impor- 

 tance as characteristic features, according as the study of 

 the family of the Alcyonida becomes advanced in that 

 direction. The observations are, indeed, very troublesome 

 but they eventually repay themselves. 



So far as I am aware, there has not, yet, been 

 shown any nervous system in the Alcyonids, and what I 

 have found in regard to this is, indeed, far from exhaustive ; 

 it is only an indication of a nervous system which future 

 examinations of living animals will certainly complete. 

 Only in one genus, and only in one species of that, viz. 

 Væringia mirabilis, have I been fortunate enough to point 

 out, on the uppermost part of the ventral surface of the 

 gullet, a group of large gan glial cells with a prolongation 

 rich in protoplasm, and under these, peculiar, smaller, 

 round, pellucid cells, and extremely slender fibrils, which 

 all appear to belong to the nerve-apparatus, vide pag. 7. 



In all the species I have examined, the gullet-passage 

 (oesophagus) had. on its internal side along the ventral 

 surface, a cavity (groove) coated with long flagelliform-cells. 

 The Alcyonids appear, in regard to this to approach the 

 Zoantids, which also have not more than one gullet-groove 

 whilst as is well known the Actiniæ have two. In one 

 genus, a peculiar differentiation of the gullet-tube is found 



