The "Tabulate Corals" are hardly less abundant in the Devonian
rocks than the _Rugosa_; and being invariably compound, they
hardly yield to the latter in the dimensions of the aggregations
which they sometimes form.
[Illustration: Fig. 84.--Portion of a mass of _Favosites
Gothlandica_, of the natural size. Upper Silurian and Devonian
of Europe and America. (Original.) Billings.]
[Illustration: Fig. 85.--Fragment of _Favosites hemispherica_,
of the natural size. Upper Silurian and Devonian of America.
(After Billings.)]
The commonest, and at the same time the largest, of these are
the "honeycomb corals," forming the genus _Favosites_ (figs.
84, 85), which derive both their vernacular and their technical
names from their great likeness to masses of petrified honeycomb.
The most abundant species are _Favosites Gothlandica_ and _F.
Hemispherica_, both here figured, which form masses sometimes
not less than two or three feet in diameter. Whilst _Favosites_
has acquired a popular name by its honey-combed appearance, the
resemblance of _Michelinia_ to a fossilised wasp's nest with the
comb exposed is hardly less striking, and has earned for it a
similar recognition from the non-scientific public. In addition
to these, there are numerous branching or plant-like Tabulate
Corals, often of the most graceful form, which are distinctive
of the Devonian in all parts of the world.
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