PLATE XCI. 339 



to thicken upwards and become more convex. In 

 September, I missed, one by one, the patches of it, 

 which I had so long persistently observed, and sup- 

 posed that they might have been rubbed off by the 

 fish, or, accidentally, by the men in charge of the 

 tanks. I found, however, that in all cases they 

 were sloughing away and becoming disintegrated, and 

 it was then exceedingly difficult to remove one entire. 

 Even the act of lifting it gently from the water in a 

 muslin net caused them to fall to pieces and break up 

 into a creamy sediment possessing little more consis- 

 tency than bread sauce. A fine specimen of Hymeni- 

 acidon caruncula, which appeared in one of the tanks in 

 September last year, and in the course of five months 

 formed a circular patch more than a foot in diameter, 

 sloughed away in a similar manner after it had ceased 

 to grow. From this, and the reappearance in abund- 

 ance of Leuconia Somesii, at the same period this year 

 as last, it seems probable that some sponges attain 

 their full growth in about six months, and live no 

 longer than one year." 



It is exceedingly gratifying to find that that magni - 

 ficent institution, the Brighton Aquarium, will not only 

 bring us acquainted with the habits and manners of 

 the finny tribes inhabiting it, but that its beneficial 

 effects will in all probability be extended to greatly 

 advance our knowledge of new species of other marine 

 animals and the progressive development of the protozoa 

 and other interesting denizens of our surrounding seas. 

 My friend Mr. Henry Lee has aptly suggested that 

 th'is, the first new highly interesting species of British 

 sponge developed in the tanks of the aquarium should 

 be named after the chairman of the company George 

 Somes Esq., who has taken such a deep interest in 

 the successful foundation and completion of that noble 

 institution. 



