340 
NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 
And as a mere triumpli of illumination and manipul{\ition, tlie glimps- 
ing a monad flagellum deserves attention. But wliat is the value (I 
mean of course the microscopic not the anatomical value, with which I 
am not dealing) of the discovery of an indistinct, shadowy line, without 
any interior, so to speak, to ‘ resolve ’ ? ” * 
The Animal of Millepora alcicornis. — The attention of zoologists 
was called to the relations of Millepora by the announcement of 
Agassiz, in 1858, that “Millepora is not an Actinoid Polyp, but a 
genuine Hydroid, allied to Hydractinia.” Professor Agassiz figured 
the animals as seen by him, in his ‘ Contributions to the Natural 
History of the United States,’ vol. iii. p. 61. On the evidence afforded 
by a single observation of Millepora, he proposed to transfer to the 
Acalepli£e not only that genus, but all the Madreporaria Tabulata of 
Milne-Ed wards. Professor Verrill has shown that the latter inference 
cannot be accepted, and that the Madrej^oraria Tabulata form an 
artificial and quite heterogeneous assemblage. There has been much 
difference of opinion as to the soundness of Agassiz’s conclusion in 
regard to Millepora itself, and the extreme shyness of the animals 
lias rendered it impossible to accumulate numerous observations. A 
paper by General Nelson and P. Martin Duncan | contains figures of 
the animals of Millepora alcicornis as observed by the former author 
while stationed at Bermuda many years ago. The figures differ from 
those of Agassiz in arranging the tentacles regularly in whorls of 
four, and the authors conclude that Millepora is probably an Alcyon- 
arian. The arrangement of tentacles is certainly quite unusual in 
the Alcyouaria, admitting the correctness of General Nelson’s figures. 
In November, 1875, a paper by Mr. Moseley, of the ‘Challenger’ 
exjiedition, was read before the Royal Society, J in which the author 
reported observations on Millepora at Bermuda and elsewhere. The 
observations seem to have been quite unsatisfactory, and the author 
at that time ventured no conclusion from them. He was, however, 
more fortunate at Tahiti ; and his paper read before the Royal Society 
in April, 1876, § gives the results of a more comiflete and satisfactory 
series of observations on the genus in question than has been made 
by any other author. His conclusions agree substantially with those 
of Agassiz. 
In the wdnter of 1876-7 the writer spent some weeks in 
Bermuda, residing for a part of the time at Flats Village, on the shore 
of Harrington Sound. The abundance of Millepora in the shallow 
water of that beautiful lagoon afforded excellent opportunity for an 
investigation of the animals. In this work the writer w^as favoured 
with the kind assistance of Mr. G. Brown Goode, of the Smithsonian 
Institution. Our experience enabled us to aj^preciate the difficulty 
which observers have always found in the extreme shyness of the 
animals. Great care was taken, in collecting the animals, to avoid 
* It is, of course, obvious that with lines 3077,^00 1^^^‘h in width, and 
interspaces of the same dimensions, there would be only 100,000 lines in an incli 
of space. 
t ‘ Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.,’ xvii. 354. 
X ‘Phil. Trans.,’ clxvi. 91. 
§ Ibid., clxvii. 117. 
