448 Proceedings of the 



the publication of my paper, I have received the opinion of 

 two of our most eminent authors, that my zoophytes were not 

 Eudendria, and have been requested to place them in a new 

 genus. The Eudendrium ramosuin of Van Beneden, and 

 Eudendria repens, and sessile, described by myself, differ from 

 the Eudendrium ramosum of Johnston, in having their polyps 

 destitute of the cup-shaped proboscis, the body fusiform in- 

 stead of globular, and in the absence of the very large and dis- 

 tinctive thread-cells which occur on the body and within the 

 polypary of Eudendrium „ I can discover no other permanent 

 difference between Eudendrium and Atractylis (arguxrvXlg, 

 from argaxrog, a spindle), as I propose to call the first-named 

 zoophytes. It is true, that nothing can be more dissimilar than 

 the large-branched Eudendria rameum and ramosum, with 

 their globular bodies, opaque from the excessive deposit of red 

 granules in the endoderm, and the delicate polyps of the 

 smaller species of Atractylis ; but I have on more than one oc- 

 casion observed an equally minute creeping species of Euden- 

 drium, which could only be identified as belonging to the latter 

 genus by the shape of its proboscis and thread-cells. 



The last systematic writer on zoophytes, Mr Gosse, describes 

 Eudendrium as " Inclosed ; Corallum fibrous, rooted, erect, 

 branching ; Polyps protruding from tips of the branches, not 

 retractile.'' This description is, however, incorrect and in- 

 sufficient, as it does not notice the proboscis, and, moreover, 

 Eudendrium is not uniformly erect or branched. The repro- 

 ductive system is also unnoticed. The following description 

 will, I believe, give the characters of the genus : — 



Eudendrium. — Polypary sheathed, creeping, or erect and branched. 

 Polyps not retractile, globular, fleshy, with an alternating row of nume- 

 rous filiform tentacles ; proboscis cup-shaped, fleshy ; endoderm of body 

 dark ; thread-cells on tentacles minute, on body large, bean-shaped, 

 containing simple style apparent. Dioecious. Ovaries single sacs, de- 

 veloped from polyps or polypary. Spermaries arranged in moniliform 

 series on pedicles, which arise beneath tentacles of polyps, or on separate 

 stalks from the polypary * 



* Note on the reproduction of B. rameum. — Mr Alder, in his " Catalogue of 

 Zoophytes of Northumberland and Durham," says, " According to Sir J. Dalyell 

 the reproductive capsules of this species are of two kinds (probably sperm and 



