THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 23 



scribed since 1889, four more had been added — two from China, 

 one from Victoria, and one in England, the latter being L. natans, 

 now often met with in the lagoons along the valley of the Yarra, 

 though it has not been reported from any place other than Littleton, 

 near London, and the abovementioned locality, so far as I know. 

 It would therefore appear that Australia is rich in forms of this 

 genus, as three out of seven known forms are not reported from 

 elsewhere, and of the remaining four two are common, leaving 

 but two, the Chinese forms, as unrecorded here. The literature 

 I have access to does not contain any newly described species of 

 Lacinularia since 1893. In addition, I would say that Prof. 

 Baldwin Spencer obtained a form from Central Australia, which, 

 owing to its being preserved in spirit, I was unable to definitely 

 identify. Such points of the anatomy as could be discerned 

 differed very little from L. socialis. In the formation of the 

 colony there was, however, a most emphatic departure from the 

 ordinary type. Instead of a spherical colony of about ^ in. in 

 diameter, the individuals were spread over a twig of about y& in. 

 diameter, completely surrounding it for 2 in. of its length, forming a 

 thick felt, closely resembling to the naked eye a freshwater sponge, 

 which are found in Australia, despite recent statements in widely 

 read journals to the contrary. Whether this abnormal luxuriance 

 indicates a new species must be left for decision until the living 

 form or suitably preserved specimens are obtained. 



The form which is the subject of this paper was found adhering 

 to the stems of water plants in spherical clusters of a dirty brown 

 colour. This brown colour appears characteristic of the species, 

 as colonies of L. socialis found on the same stem retained their 

 usual whitish appearance, and therefore the difference must be 

 attributable to some habit or property of secretion peculiar to the 

 species. The clusters are about 2.5 mm. in diameter. The 

 individuals are more sparsely spread over the surface of this 

 sphere than in other species of the genus, and are at once dis- 

 tinguishable by their narrower body and corona. The corona is 

 slightly oval, the shorter axis being placed dorso-ventrally. There 

 is a very distinct dorsal gap. The groove between the principal 

 and secondary ciliary wreaths is covered with shorter cilia. Two 

 antennae are placed towards the dorsal surface, low down on the 

 neck. These antennae are very small, and can only be seen when 

 the animal is suitably placed and the illumination effected in a 

 proper manner. Taking the general outline, the corona is rather 

 wider than the body, and in living specimens the neck is con- 

 stricted and there are two transverse furrows on a level with the 

 mastax. From the neck the outline broadens until the widest part 

 is reached, a little below the neck, from whence it tapers off some- 

 what quickly to a long peduncle of about two-thirds the entire 

 length of the animal. The peduncle is highly contractile. The 



