THE FAMILY OF TFIK DF.SMACIDINAE. 101 



Schmidt, which is nowadays generally adopted. The foun- 

 dations of the building which Schmidt is in ■ the course of 

 erecting are much more firm and strong than those of Bow- 

 erbank. If we go on building upon the foundations which 

 Schmidt has laid, certain changes and alterations will al- 

 ways have to be made;.... did not the builder himself often 

 give the example ? . . . but these will not endanger the 

 solidity of the whole structure. And so the system of 

 Oscar Schmidt is the trunk on which that of Bowerbank , 

 and likewise that of Carter and others ought to be grafted , 

 and not inversely. 



The system of Schmidt , however, is not followed in Eng- 

 land ; and has even been rejected and replaced by other 

 arrangements. Thus Gray made another, which certainly 

 was not very satisfactory , but still he always stuck to it. 



Carter too , of whom it might be supposed that he 

 would follow the principles of Schmidt, made still an- 

 other classification , and is now , I believe , occupied in 

 arranging and describing the Sponges of the British Mu- 

 seum , in accordance with his own system. Only one man 

 in England , Sir C. Wyville Thomson , has declared himself 

 in favour of Schmidt's views! In his paper on the Vi- 

 treous Sponges') he says: „I think that certainly the most 

 satisfactory arrangement of sponges is that proposed by 

 Dr. Oscar Schmidt", and further on: „The only classifi- 

 cation which has any material advantage over the older 

 classifications of Nardo , de Blainville , Johnston and Lie- 

 berkiihn , seems to be that of Dr. Oscar Schmidt. Du- 

 chassaing and Michelotti , Bowerbank and Gray have each 

 made valuable individual suggestions ; but Dr. Schmidt's 

 grouping, taken as a whole, appears to be the most in 

 accordance with our knowledge of the anatomy and physi- 

 ology of the class." 



On the continent , however , the opinions expressed by 

 Prof. Wyville Thomson are more generally accepted. Most 



1) Ann. a Mag. 1868. I. p. 114, cet. 



Notes from tlie Leytlen ^Jiiseiim , "Vol. II. 



