﻿66 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



state it was one of the most beautiful animals I have ever 

 seen. 



My study of Primnoa reseda has been rewarded by the 

 discovery of the interesting fact that the species is viviparous, 

 and I have included at the end of the paper some notes on 

 the embryos. 



By way of contrasting the " Goldseeker " specimen with 

 others previously obtained, I may briefly refer to a few of 

 the old descriptions. 



Linn^ (1728) called it Gorgonia lepadifera, and summed it 

 up in the expressive words, " floribus sparsis consertis reflexis 

 campanulatis imbricatis." He compared the polyp-calyces 

 to barnacles, and noted that they were shut in by eight 

 valves. He spoke of the cortex as alhidus, but this seems to 

 be only the post-mortem colour. 



Pallas (1766) called it Gorgonia reseda, and gave a good 

 description, alluding, for instance, to the resemblance 

 between the close-set, recurved calyces and the fruits of 

 mignonette, and to the branches thicker than swan's quills. 

 He also speaks of the colour of the cortex and calyx-scales 

 as white, whereas it is a vivid salmon -pink in the fresh 

 specimen. He gives its locality as "mare norvegicum et 

 forte indicum," but the suggestion of the Indian Ocean was 

 probably due to some mistake. 



In 1786 Ellis and Solander described it as " the barnacle- 

 bearing Gorgon " {Gorgonia lepadifera), and noted the dicho- 

 tomous branching, the bell-shaped, scale-covered calyces, the 

 minute whitish scales covering the flesh, and the bone-like 

 axis. The size is given as usually 18 inches high (contrast 

 the 34 inches of our specimen); the locality is stated as the 

 coast of Norway, but the specimen figured came from Arch- 

 angel. Attention is directed to the eight valves covering 

 the mouth, which are compared to the scales on the head of 

 the horned asp. Coluber cerastes. " In this Gorgonia, which is 

 a fixt animal, the scales on the stem and branches, which do 

 not move, are much of one form, differing greatly from those 

 on the heads, which are always in motion, while the animal 

 is alive and catching its food." The downward bent heads 

 and mouths are compared to "some species of barnacles," 



