As a text for the following brief remarks on the recognition of mural pores in thin sections of the Favositoid Corals, I may quote a note appended by Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., to a recent paper on the genus Lithostrotion (Trans. Edin. Geol. Soc. vol. v. part iii. p. 381). The note in question is subjoined, the quotation being verbatim, and, I may add, literatim also:—“We may, however, attach an undue importance to microscopic examinations. Need I refer to the point raised recently by that erratic and energetic worker, Prof. Alleyne Nicholson, regarding mural pores in the genus Alveolites, the type of which is also in Dr. Fleming's collection. If he had detected mural pores in microscopic sections, we would have regarded such as being one of the greatest discoveries of modern times.
