June 30, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



985 



tiated corallite walls. Calices forming more 

 or less definitely concentric series, which are 

 bounded below by a subcalicular swelling or 

 ridge; there is no swelling or ridge above, the 

 septo-costa3 running directly to the next series. 

 Septa well developed, distinctly radiate, im- 

 perforate. Columella a single tubercle. 

 Agaricia fragilis (Dana) agrees in generic 

 characters with the type and is a closely re- 

 lated species. 



I think that Mr. Gardiner's criticism of 

 Professor Doderlein's monograph, ' Die Koral- 

 lengattung Fungia,' is in some respects too 

 severe. He says : " It is quite clear that that 

 author [Doderlein] has, generally speaking, 

 no scientific basis for his description of ' va- 

 rieties.' " The word variety is difficult to de- 

 fine in a manner that will be satisfactory to 

 all systematists, and Mr. Gardiner himself is 

 guilty of an inconsistency. Under Fungia 

 dentigera, he speaks of ' a true variety, the 

 separating characters of which are discon- 

 tinuous.' If the characters are discontinu- 

 ous, the specimens belong to a distinct species. 

 Mr. Gardiner in Part I. of his ' Madreporaria 

 of the Maldives and Laccadives ' says ' dis- 

 continuous or specific ' variation. Variation 

 in corals is so complex and its causes are so 

 little understood that one should be very 

 lenient in criticizing the efforts of a fellow 

 worker to handle its phenomena. There are 

 mistakes in Doderlein's work; some of his 

 varieties can not be maintained by any of 

 the usually accepted canons of zoological 

 nomenclature, but his work is earnest and he 

 has much advanced our knowledge of the 

 genus Fungia. 



I am glad to see that Mr. Gardiner con- 

 siders Fodohacia a valid genus, and heartily 

 agree with him in that course. 



As regards Cycloseris and Fungia, I agree 

 with Doderlein. The only possible basis for 

 their separation into two genera would be in 

 Cycloseris having originally only six primary 

 septa and Fungia twelve. The validity of 

 this character is extremely doubtful, as it 

 rests on a very slim foundation. 



Without entering into a discussion of my 

 reasons, I will state that I believe Quelch was 

 correct in uniting Cycloseris and Diaseris, 



and, as stated in what precedes, I agree with 

 Doderlein in combining both with Fungia. 



IV. Turhinolidce. — The number of speci- 

 mens collected is not given. Six species, rep- 

 resenting 4 genera, are referred to the Tur- 

 binolidEe. They are Flabellum, 2, F. multi- 

 fore, nov. ; Tropidocyathus, 1, T. cooperi, nov. ; 

 Heterocyathus, 1; Paracyathus, 2. 



Mr. Gardiner's paper is an important con- 

 tribution to the literature of reef corals. He 

 gives valuable notes on variation, careful de- 

 scriptions and figures all the forms described 

 as new and several of those referred to pre- 

 viously described species. 



The studies being made on the coral faunas 

 of the Pacific and Indian oceans are bringing 

 out many interesting facts of their geograph- 

 ical distribution. I have just completed a 

 study of the Hawaiian Fungida, and may be 

 pardoned for comparing them with those from 

 the Indian Ocean. The following is a list of 

 the species, with notes on their occurrence 

 elsewhere: Fungia {Cycloseris) patella (Ell. 

 & Sol.), east coast of Africa, etc.; Fungia 

 {Diaseris) fragilis (Alcock), Indian Ocean; 

 Fungia scutaria var. dentigera Leuckart, 

 Indian Ocean, etc.; [Fungia oahensis Doder- 

 lein; Fungia paumoten-sis Stutchb. {fide 

 Quelch), Philippines, etc.; Fungia echinata 

 (Pallas) {fide Studer)]* Indian Ocean, etc.; 

 Bathyactis stephana Alcock, Indian Ocean; 

 Stephanaria stellata Verrill, Panama; Ste- 

 phanaria n. sp. ; Pavona varians Verrill, aff. 

 P. repens Briiggemann; Pavona n. sp.; Lep- 

 toseris (1) n. sp., aff. L. fragilis M. Ed. & H. ; 

 Leptoseris (2) n. sp. ; Leptoseris (3) n. sp., 

 aff. L. papyracea (Dana) ; Leptoseris (4) n. 

 sp. ; Psammocora, aff. P. superficialis Gar- 

 diner. 



A fair proportion of the species actually 

 occur in the Indian Ocean, some as far west 

 as Africa, or have there analogues so similar 

 that specific separation is doubtful. As would 

 be expected, the Panamic fauna is represented 

 to some extent. 



T. Wayland Vaughan. 



May 15, 1905. 



* I have not seen specimens of these from the 

 Hawaiian Islands, but the type of the first is 

 from there. 



