i8 



1897 Lendenfeld p. 163. 



1897 Lindgren p. 484. 



1897 Topsent pp. 425, 440. 



1898 Lindgren p. 325. 

 1905 Dendy p. 124. 

 1909 Hentschel p. 385. 



The type in the British Museum is registered 'S-/. 5. 2. 103, which corresponds with my 

 number B.M. 26- Lendenfeld called the sponge Vioa solida, for which I fail to see a reason. 

 In external appearance it resembles certain specimens of J>. vagabuuda. Also Dendy wrote 

 (1. c. p. 124): "In the possession of the occasionally much elongated spirasters this variety 



(viz. S. vagabunda fungoides) resembles Ridley and Dendy's Spirastrella solida which 



should perhaps be regarded merely as another variety of 5. vagabunda' . It is worth while to 

 observe that in addition to the set of spicules, figured by Ridley & Dendy, occasionally still 

 longer, but also stouter spicules occur (PI. XII, hg. 5), which shows a relation to specimens 

 which possess these in greater quantity. In the specimens 426 a-c of the Siboga collection which 

 certainly form only one species, we see in 426 a robust spinispirae tolerably abundant, in 426 b 

 and 426 c they are far from abundant. In external appearance 5. solida comes nearer to 426 d, 

 in spiculation nearer to 426 c On the other side are massa and solida nearly allied. 



XVII. Suberites inconstans. — Spirastrella inconstans. 



1887 (*) Dendy p. 154—157. PI. IX, figs. 1, ia, 2; PI. X. 



1899 Thiele p. 10 — 11. PI. I, fig. 3 — ia; PI. V, fig. 4. 



1900 Thiele p. 71. 



1902 Sollas p. 216 — 217; PI. XIV, fig. 3. 



Dendy described three varieties of Suberites inconstans, which he named globpsa, inaeandrina 

 and digitata. The author examined tvvo specimens of var. globosa, a "single specimen" of var. 

 inaeandrina and three specimens of var. digitata ; consequently together six specimens. I found 

 in the British Museum only four specimens. Since the two others were probably returned to 

 the Madras Museum, my friend Kirkpatrick was kind enough to write to the direction of this 

 Museum, begging to procure me photo's of the specimens of Suberites inconstans which we 

 supposed to be the two, returned by the British Museum. The superintendent, Mr. Henderson 



kindly answered our request by sending photographs. However not of two but of five 



specimens. In stead of six we thus had nine specimens. Since Dendy positively asserts to have 

 seen only five specimens, the question arrises : which are these? This question is not without 

 importance and I thought it my duty to try to solve the puzzle. With the help of Kirkpatrick, 

 Dendy and Mr. Thurston, formerly superintendent of the Madras Museum, help for which I 

 wish to thank these gentlemen, I came to the following result. 



1. S. inconstans var. globosa. The type-specimen, figured by Dendy (1. c. PI. IX, fig. 1) 

 is registered in the British Museum '87. 8.4. 2; it bears my number B.M. 25. 



Among the photo's from Madras there is one of a specimen, labelled "Suberiles inconstans 

 Dendy. Var. globosa. Pamban"; to this specimen I have given the number M. M. 6o- Since 

 Dendy wrote (1. c. p. 155): "there are two specimens of this variety (viz. globosa), agreeing 



