FAMILY VI. ALCYONIDiE. 
14. Alcyonium,* Linnaeus. 
Character. — Polype-mass lobed or incrusting^ spongious , the 
* From Alcyon — the King’s-fisher : the word itself signifies “ sea-foam” of 
which the Halcyons were supposed to make their nests. See Lib. Entert. 
Knowl. “ The Architecture of Birds p. 45, &c. 
“ And every thing dispos’d it to my rest, 
“ As on the seas when th’ Halcyon builds her nest. 
“ When those rough waves, which late with fury rush’d, 
“ Slide smoothly on, and suddenly are hush’d : 
“ Nor Neptune lets his surges out so long, 
“ As nature is in bringing forth her young.” 
Drayton’s Heroical Epistles. 
To the reasons adduced by Milne-Edwards for retaining the name Alcyonium 
to this group, I would add that Lobularia is inadmissible, having been preoc- 
cupied by the botanists. The Alcyonium of Lamarck is composed of certain 
sponges, of which the true character remains unknown. 
