50 A MONOGRAPH OF THE 



the surface exhibited stellate pittings very like those on thb 

 type specimen of C. Mulleri, but as these are only an acci- 

 dental character, arising from contracting the tissues by 

 drying, there is not much value in their stellate appearance. 

 The form and proportion of the spicula and gemmules of 

 all parts of the two sponges coincide ; the only difference 

 that I could note was that the hirsute spicula penetrating 

 the crust of the Cape specimen were more numerous in a 

 section examined than they appeared to be in a similar 

 section from Dr. Fleming's British type specimen ; an 

 amount of difference that would probably be found to exist 

 in different parts of the same specimen. I cannot, there- 

 fore, do otherwise than conclude, that they are the same 

 species, notwithstanding the great differences that exist in 

 their localities. 



The history of this sponge presents a singular sequence 

 of errors. In the first place, Muller is distinctly wrong in 

 the designation of his species, which undoubtedly is Alcy- 

 onium of Ray and Linnaeus. Professor Jameson, perhaps 

 misled by the stellate mantlings on the surface, believed the 

 sponge from " Fulah and Unst" to be the same as Midler's 

 specimen, and an Alcyonium. Dr. Fleming, at the time of 

 the publication of his ' British Animals,' appears to believe 

 it to be not an Alcyonium, but still identical with Midler's 

 specimen, and accordingly gives it both a new generic and 

 specific name. At last Johnston, seeing that it is not the 

 type of a new genus, sinks both Dr. Fleming's generic 

 and specific names, and correctly assigning the specimen to 

 Geodia, renames it Zetlandlca. 



