46 
Stenopora examined. As regards tlieir figure,^ to wliicli tliese observers refer 
in contirmation of tlieir ojiinion, the openings there represented seem mncli 
too irregularly distributed for septal spines, and do conform to the irregular 
arrangement assumed by the supposed jiores in the species before mentioned. 
Neither sejita nor pseudo-septa have revealed themselves in any section of 
Stenopora examined by me. 
Tabuhe in the Australian forms of Stenopora appear to follow two 
well-established rules. In the axial region they are few in number, and 
remote ; in the peripheral zone, cither numerous and close, or comparatively 
absent. In Stenopora crinita one of these terms is hardly applicable, for we 
are not acquainted with a peripheral region in this species, in the same sense 
as in the others, but should rather s])eak of an axial region and periodic 
growth stage. In the former tabulae are certainly remote, but arc jilaced at 
the same level in contiguous tubes, corresponding to the distant fusiform 
thickenings and accompanying constrictions. At the termination of the 
latter the tabulae increase greatly in number, corresponding to the more 
fre(pient thickenings ; and probably, could we obtain a perfect example, it 
would be found that tabulae occurred at all of these points in S. crinita. 
In Stenopora ovata^ S. tasmaniensis, and S. australis the tabulae of 
the axial region follow the structure described in S. crinita, except that they 
are usually single and scattered. In S. LeichharcUi, I am not acquainted 
with axial tabulae, and only in the peripheral zone in the figure given by 
Prof. Nicholson and the Writer.” It is clear that tabulae are very rare in this 
species, but whether structurally so, or from its peculiar state of preserva- 
tion, I am not in a position to say. In the latter portion of the corallum in 
S. ovata, and probably also in that of S. australis, the tabulae occur in such 
well-preserved examjfies as the Tasmanian specimens, frequently at the 
points of constriction, and on the same level with one another. But in the 
case of the former species caution must be exercised so as not to confound 
the true tabulm with the foldings of sclereucliyma previously mentioned, 
which occur in the corallites of this species. Lastly, in S. tasmaniensis, the 
massively-thickened condition of the peripheral layer of the corallum renders 
a view of the tabulae almost impossible. It is, however, probable that they 
arc closely packed together. 
^ Pal. Indica, Salt Piange Fossils, 1886, Vol. I, Pt. 0, t. Ill, f. Ic. 
- Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 18SC XVII, t. 3, f. 8. 
