NIAGARA GROUP. 
115 
CORALS. 
Numerous forms of this class of fossils occur both in the shale and limestone. Few of the 
solid or stone building corals are seen in the shale, its forms usually being referable to Ilete- 
pora, Fenestella, and genera of similar structure. There are also some other forms of this 
class of fossils, which appear referable to the corticiferous polyparia. 
42 
1. Gorgonia? reteformis. No visible axis ; branched or expanding from a centre (axis ?); 
branches flattened, wrinkled and indistinctly striated, anastomosing so as to form a reticulated 
structure ; no visible pores or papillae. 
In general appearances this fossil closely resembles Gorgonia assimilis, (Silurian Re¬ 
searches, pi. 15, f. 27,) to which I had referred it. There is, however, no solid axis, a central 
point or depression being visible, from which the coral expands. It is probably the same as fig. 
28, ut supra. The figure is from the central portion where the margin is destroyed. I am 
indebted to Dr. Fassett of Lockport for a perfect specimen, six inches in diameter. I have 
another imperfect specimen where the margins are destroyed, and which must have been 
18 or 20 inches in extent when perfect. 
It occurs in the shale at Lockport, usually in fragments. 
2. Gorgonia 1 Expanding from a base or point of attachment, branched; branches bifur¬ 
cating as they ascend, slightly diverging and united at intervals by slender filaments. The 
whole forms a delicate and beautiful expansion, often extending over several inches. Its 
perfect form is unknown. No pores are visible, and both this and the preceding species 
present merely a film of carbonaceous matter. They are provisionally referred to Gorgonia, 
and it not strictly belonging to that genus are closely allied. 
15* 
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