322 



Dr. S. J. Hickson. On certain 



[Apr. 15, 



April 15, 1886. 



Professor STOKES, D.O.L., President, in the Chair. 



The Presents received were laid on the table, and thanks ordered 

 for them. 



The following Papers were read : — 



I. " Preliminary Notes on certain Zoological Observations made 

 at Talisse Island, North Celebes." By Sydney J. Hickson, 

 D.Sc, B.A. Communicated by Professor H. N. Moseley, 

 F.R.S.* Received March 25, 1886. 



Notes upon an Alcyonarian (Clavularia viridis). 



In one of my earliest walks npon the coral reefs of Talisse, I came 

 across a spot where Tubipores and Cornularias were more abundant 

 than elsewhere. Quantities of the little crowds of brownish -green 

 or pure brown polypes of these Alcyonarians, with occasionally a 

 crowd of the emerald-green polypes of a small species of Tubipora, 

 were to be seen on every side. As I was wading along through the 

 water on this spot, my stick accidentally struck against a mass of 

 what I thought was Tubipora ; but when the polypes had retracted I 

 saw to my surprise that, instead of the usual bright red skeleton, 

 there was a skeleton of a dirty green colour, the tubes of which were 

 joined, not by platforms, but by tubes. Taking with me a large speci- 



* \_Note by Professor H. N. Moseley. — The Alcyonarian described here by 

 Mr. Hickson is apparently identical with, a specimen in f he British Museum, 

 collected by Mr. A. E. Wallace in the Aru Islands, and labelled Clavularia viridis. 

 The existence of transverse communicating canals in Clavularia, extending between 

 the vertical tubes at successive heights above the stolon tubes, as in Syringopora, is 

 apparently a new fact, and one of great interest. The genus Clavularia has received 

 considerable attention from modern naturalists. Gr. v. Koch has described the 

 anatomy of Clavularia prolifera, and A. Kowalevsky and A. F. Marion the larval 

 phases of Clavularia petricola ; but these forms, together with most others included 

 in the genus, appear to have the vertical tubes united only at the level of the stolon, 

 as is the case, according to Mr, Hickson, in the young state of the form he describes. 

 Possibly his form will require to be placed in a separate genus. The existence of 

 rudimentary ampullae in the coenosteum of Millepora has been described by 

 Mr. Quelch, of the Eritish Museum, but the actual gonads of the Milleporidas have 

 hitherto remained undiscovered. The notes have been written by Mr. Hickson 

 where he is of course unable to refer to scientific literature.] 



