30. Stichopathes variabilis n. n. (PI. VI, figs. 2, 7, 10; PI. VII, figs. 1,4, 8, 9, 10). 
I was able to make sections through several colonies from various stations. The var. 
aspenspina from Saleyer and stations 7, 53 and 260; the var. longispina from station 318; 
the var. lissispina from Banda and the var. lissispina minor from station 1 17 were examined. 
The lollowing description relates to the var. longispina , lissispina and lissispina minor together. 
It will be followed by the divergations shown by the colonies from the other stations. 
Tentacles. The ectoderm (47 p.) contains nematocyst-batteries, surrounded by deeply 
staining glandcells. There are slightly developed longitudinal musclefibres. The nervous layer 
is almost in contact with the mesogloea. The homogeneous mesogloea (1 — 13 p.) has cir¬ 
cular ridges on the entodermal side. There are no oval cells, but transversal fibrillae, especially 
at the base of the sagittal tentacles. The entoderm (35 p.) contains circular musclefibres and 
a few deeply staining glandcells. 
Bodywall. The ectoderm (15 p.) has the tentacular structure, except for the absence 
of nematocyst-batteries and musclefibres. The mesogloea (7 p.) has rare transversal fibres. 
The entoderm (7 p„) is the same as in the tentacles, but without musclefibres. 
The ectoderm of the oral cone is very rich in deeply staining glandcells and it con¬ 
tains a large number of nematocyst-batteries besides. Its entoderm has slightly developed cir¬ 
cular musclefibres. — The polyps are separated by an interzooidal septum. 
The axis has very thin epithelial layers. The very thin connecting septum is not 
always fixed diametrically opposite the oral cone, but slightly laterally. The sheath of the spines 
is very frequently fused with the bodywall; the entoderm of the spines as well as of the body- 
wall is thinner in these places. The spines are club-shaped with a narrow stalk. — Towards 
the top of the colony the axial ectoderm increases in thickness, while the axis itself is only a 
very thin wall with a wide lumen. At first the ectoderm thickens over two thirds of the circum¬ 
ference, not on the side of the connecting septum, but furtheron towards the colony-top it is 
everywhere thickened to the same degree. — The extreme apex of the colony is a tube, not 
exactly circular in section, of ectoderm, mesogloea and entoderm. At a distance of 75 p. below 
the top, part of the ectoderm invaginates (PI. VI, fig. 10) and forms a mass, which is somewhat 
like a mesenterial filament; a large knob of ectoderm is encased in very thin layers of meso- 
gloea and entoderm and joined to the bodywall by a connecting septum of mesogloea and 
entoderm. The encased ectoderm shows no trace of a horny axis, but furtheron from the 
colony-top this knob is an irregular entangled mass of ectoderm and of horny matter. This 
horny matter gets the normal shape of the axis, while the ectoderm arranges itself into a 
regular cylindrical epithelium (PI. VII, fig. 8) at a distance of 150 p. below the colony-top. Here 
the connecting septum is very broad; the entoderm of bodywall and axis are fused over one 
fourth of the circumference, but soon it diminishes into a very thin septum. At a greater 
distance from the top the first polyp appears, which is of a normal type, but small. 
Actinopharynx. I he ectoderm (24 p.) contains many actinopharyngeal glandcells and 
a few other deeply staining cells. The mesogloea (1 — 2 p.) and the entoderm (11 p.) have 
the same structure as elsewhere. There is no pigment. The mesogloea projects in the shape 
