PORIFERA. I. 19 



by Schmidt is very incomplete, but in giving a new description of the species I shall have chiefly 

 to restrict mvself to the needles and their forms, all the specimens being in a rather bad condition. 



We have several specimens of the species. One of them mentioned by Schmidt as having 

 <sDie Gestalt eines i' , Zoll dicken, handgrossen Fladens s is a piece of a ver>- compact, almost snberite- 

 like consistenc\-; it has been growing as a plate over a group of Balani. The surface is more even 

 than in the other specimens; the spicules are closeh' packed in all directions, and no dermal membrane 

 can be separated from the tissue below. We cannot, however, be sure that the specimen has kept its 

 original skin, and consequently, when Schmidt says: mit zahlreichen, verschieden grossen Osculis , 

 this is not certain, as the openings in the upper surface of the specimen do not appear to be naturall\- 

 boimded oscula. 



The other specimens of the species, of which Schmidt .says: Andre gelbHche, faustgrosse 

 Stiicke haben eine krause, wabige Oberflache, mit Osculis im Grunde der Waben>, are roundish pieces 

 of a much looser consistency than the preceding one. The specimens ha\e a higlih' ruffled surface, 

 which is, perhaps, only so conspicuous, because the skin is wanting, or is only left in places; but where 

 it is left, the surface is grooved, and the grooves separated by sinuous swellings; the dermal iiicnibranc 

 is onh- found undamaged in a smaller part of one .specimen, and here it appears to have a reticulation 

 of spicules about as in H. pauicea, although coarser and more irregular. Oscula are spread and appear, 

 as stated by Schmidt, especially in the grooves of the .surface, but as to their number and size no- 

 thing can be said on account of the skin being destroyed. In s^^ite of the difference of the specimens 

 as to consistency- their relation is seen by the fact, that all the specimens have spicules of the same 

 form and size. In the skeleton^ as far as I have been able to observe, no fibres are found, but the 

 spicules are lying in the tissue in all direction.s. Spiciila are the caracteristic feature of the species; 

 they are oxea, and are exceedingh- varying in length, from 0-09— o'Gj""". The medium sizes are the 

 scarcest, so that the spicules may also be said to fall into two groups as to size; the smaller ones are 

 most frequenth- of a length of between ca. O'lo— o-ij""", the larger ones ma)- be of a length between 

 0-238— 0-67""", but, as has been mentioned, the distinction is not sharp. Although the smaller needles 

 are found throughout the .sponge, they seem to be most frequent in the dermal membrane and in the 

 membranes bounding the canals; they are, ho-wever, far from exclusiveh- forming the spiculation of 

 these membranes, but are found between the larger needles, and seem alwa\'s to be arranged more or 

 less perpendicularl}' on the larger ones. The larger needles are slender, long tapering, and most fre- 

 quenth- with a rather sharp bending in the middle; upon the whole they are formed like the needles 

 in H. pam'cea\ the smaller needles are more or less curved, and evenh-, but not long tapering. That 

 the smaller needles are not developmental forms is seen by the fact, that the thickness is about the 

 same in the smaller and in the larger ones, about o-oi"""; the smaller ones being, however, frequenth- 

 somewhat thinner. On the other hand finer needles may be found, which by their length are seen 

 to be developmental forms of the large ones. The smaller needles resemble to a certain degree the 

 /?e/2/errt-needles, and thi.s, I suppose, is the fact that Schmidt thinks of, when he writes: Die Form 

 ist interessant, weil sie die Uebergange der Nadeln vom Renierentypus in den der Amorphinengruppe 

 direct zeigt-. As has been correctly observed by vSchmidt, monstrous forms of the needles are rather 

 frequent in this species; especially frequent is among the smaller needles a form as fig. 2 c. Schmidt's 



