ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 727 



with one layer or two or more layers of mioroscleres lying parallel or 

 nearly parallel to the chitinous coat and embedded in a dense chitinoid 

 substance. No air-chambers ; granular layer absent or imperfectly 

 developed. Free spicules, when present, amphioxous or amphistron- 

 gylous. The type of this subgenus is Spongilla bombayensis Carter, and 

 specimens were got in Natal by Professor Weber. Another sponge from 

 near Oudtshoorn, Cape Colony, is referred to Ephydatia fiuviatilis, var. 

 capensis Kirkpatrick. 



New Freshwater Sponges.* — Nelson Annandale describes Spongilla 

 travancorica sp. n., in the subgenus Euspongilla, distinguished from its 

 allies by its adherent gemmules with (usually) multiple apertures and 

 rough external surface. He records Tubella pennsylvanica Potts, from 

 India, and establishes a new genus Pectispongilla, which differs as 

 regards its gemmule spicules from any form hitherto described, for they 

 have the armature of the extremities bilateral instead of radial. The 

 species P. aurea has a deep golden colour. 



Poterion, a Boring Sponge. f — Gr. C. J. Vosmaer points out that 

 the structure of Poterion closely resembles that of the so-called Oscnlina 

 polystomella, which is nothing but the free form of a boring sponge 

 {Vioa viridis), which is a modification of the very variable Gliona celata. 

 It is certain that Poterion must be placed in the same group as' Gliona. 



Merlia and its Encrusting Sponge.} — R. Kirkpatrick discusses 

 the enigmatical organism known as Merlia normani Kirk, the structure 

 of which is, in some respects, like that of a Ccenothecalian coral, in some 

 respects like that of Monticulipora. On specimens obtained at Porto 

 Santo the author found a new silicious sponge, which he names Noronha 

 scalariformis g. et sp. n. The diagnosis of the genus reads : " Desmaci- 

 donidse with a skeleton formed of more or less separate bundles of tyles 

 and raphides. Microscleres in the form of oval rings." 



Philippine SpongesJ — Alven Seale gives a short, finely illustrated 

 account of the kind of sponges — mostly species of Euspongia — fished in 

 the Philippines. He discusses their preparation for the market and their 

 cultivation. It is pointed out that artificial propagation works well. 

 Cakes of about 5 cm. are placed on a thick copper wire about 4 cm. 

 apart, the wire being fastened to a stake at each end, and about 15 cm. 

 from the bottom. Within a day or two the sponges fix, and they grow 

 into better shapes than those growing naturally. Slips planted in Florida 

 reached a marketable size in less than two years. 



Protozoa. 



Conjugation in Acinet33.|| - - B. Collin has observed in Ephelota 

 gemmipara the conjugation of a microgamete with a macrogamete as in 

 Vorticellids. The male gamete seems to arise by a special kind of 



* Records Indian Museum, iii. (1909) pp. 101-4 (1 pi.). 



t Proc. Acad. Amsterdam Section of Sciences, xi. (1908) pp. 37-41. 



% Ann. Nat. Hist., iv. (1909) pp. 42-8. 



S Philippine Journ. Sci.,iv. (1909) pp. 57-64 (9 pis. and 4 figs.). 



|| Comptes Rendus, cxlviii. (1»09J pp. 1416-18. 



3 C 2 



