136 A MONOGRAPH OF THE AUSTRALIAN SPONGES, 



contains fibres with a star shaped transverse section, and helps as I 

 pointed out in the place cited above, to explain the otherwise 

 unprecedented occurrence of such Keratous stars. 



Up to 1866, all Zoologists had, with the abovenauied exception 

 of Leukart, considered the sponges as Protozoa. 



Amongst others, Huxley, O. Schmidt, and Kolliker. At the 

 Versammlung deutscher Natnrforscher und Arzte at Hannover, 

 in 1866, Van Beneden and Claus declared the sponges to be 

 Ccelenterata (70). 



In consequence of Bowerbank not making use of previously 

 published essays, a great confusion in the nomenclature arose. 

 0. Schmidt therefore in his second Supplement (71) reduced the 

 diagnoses of Bowerbank to his own names, and it is only with this 

 key possible to understand Bowerbank's work. 



In the same year appeared the second volume of Bowerbank's 

 Monogi-aph (72). 



A year later Hancock (73) published a paper on excavating 

 sponges, to prove that they were not as Bowerbank had stated, 

 ordinary Halichondrise, which lived in deserted worm tubes, and 

 other old excavations, but that they bored these holes themselves. 



In 1867, Selenka (74) published a paper on the sponges of th 

 Southern Seas, where for the first time a number of Australian 

 sponges are accurately described and figured. I have been able 

 to identify several of our sponges with Selenka's species. 



(70). Amtlicher Bericht der Versammlung deutscher Naturforscher und 

 Aerzte in Hannover, 18G6. 



(71). 0. Schmidt. Zweites Supplement zu den Spongien des Adriatiscken 

 Meeres. Leipzig, 1866. 



(72). J. Bowerbank. A Monograph of the British Spongidee Vol. II. 

 Roy . Soc, London, 1866. 



(73). A. Hancock. Note on the excavating sponges. Ann. Mag., 1867, 

 Vol. XIX., p. 229. 



(74). E. Selenka. Tiber einege neue Schwdmine der SUdsee. Z. f. wiss. 

 Zool. Band XVII. Seite, 565. 



