97 
several different genera, which may be easily 
separated into groups by the manner in which 
their cells are placed with reference to each 
other. 
In the first of these groups the cells are 
simple and separate, having a regular circum¬ 
scribed edge, over which the internal laminae 
are often indexed, as in the Sea Mushroom 
(Fungia and Cyclolithes ), both of which are ex¬ 
panded and hemispherical. The genera Tur- 
binolia and Caryophyllea resemble these in many 
particulars, but they differ in being of a conical 
or cylindrical shape: the former of these, like 
the Fungia , becomes free by age, while the 
latter is always attached. 
The second group only differs from the 
former in the cell springing from a branchy 
base, the branches ending in simple stars : these, 
in their young state, are scarcely to be dis¬ 
tinguished, except by their cylindrical form, from 
Caryophyllea. In one of these, Dendrophila, the 
stars are simple ; in the other, Lobophylla , they 
are irregular, and the laminae of which the 
stars are formed are irregular and jagged. 
In by far the larger part of these Corals the 
cells are placed side by side, united together by 
a larger or smaller quantity of calcareous cement 
into a rounded mass, a broad foliaceous expan¬ 
sion, or a branched subcylindrical coral. The 
animals of these corals cover them with a soft, 
h gelatinous. 
ROOM XI. 
