246 



Mr. Carter's brief statement as to the true nature oîGrantia laby- 

 rinthica was published so far back as 1886, but until the jjublication 

 of my paper it attracted not the slightest notice ; even had it done 

 so , since Teichonella prolifera was the type of the supposed family, 

 the Teichonidae would not necessarily have fallen with the discovery 

 of the true nature of Gratifia lahyrinthica. As a matter of fact the 

 family was maintained by writers on the Calcarea, including Polé- 

 jaeff, Vosmaer, Lendenfeld and Hseckel, until the publication 

 of my memoir on the subject; and, moreover, Grantia lahyrintliica 

 was not removed from the family. Even so late as 1890 Lenden- 

 feld still retained the family in his »System der Spongiemr, although he 

 said that he inclined to Marshall's view that the Teichonidae arewLeu- 

 coniden vom reinsten Wasser«. With this view of Marshall's I was 

 not previously acquainted, but, as will be seen by reference to my own 

 memoir, it only expresses a portion of the truth. In a still more recent 

 work, however, published in December 1891 and dated April of the 

 same year, entitled »Die Spongien der Ada"ia. I. Die Kalkschwämme«, 

 Dr. von Lenden fe Id observes »von diesen Familien sind die Syco- 

 nidae (Hseckel) naturgemäß und beizubehalten; die Leuconidae in 

 zwei Familien zu spalten für Formen mit kugeligen oder ovalen, und 

 für Formen mit gestreckt sackförmigen Kammern , und endlich die 

 Teichonidae aufzulösen, denn die letzteren sind nichts Anderes als Sy- 

 conen und Leuconen mit becherförmig erweitertem Oscularrohr«. He 

 also in the same work places Eilhardia amongst the Leucons, giving 

 it as a Synonym for Leucandra. 



Although the statement as to the nature of the oscular tube is 

 quite incorrect as regards the type of the so-called family, still I ought, 

 perhaps , to feel flattered that so eminent a spongologist has been so 

 speedily converted to my views as to the relationships of the Teicho- 

 nidae. I must confess, however , to a slight feeling of disappointment 

 at not finding my work on the subject even so much as referred to by 

 Dr. von Lenden fe Id, although he gives a lengthy »Litteratur« at 

 the commencement of his memoir'. In fact, incredible as it may seem, 

 the results of my investigations are, apparently, simply taken possession 

 of without the slightest acknowledgment. The facts that up till 1890 

 Dr. von Lendenfeld was in the habit of accepting the family Tei- 

 chonidae; that my paper shewing that this family must be abandoned 

 appeared in January 1891, and that later on in the same year Dr. von 

 Lendenfeld adopts my conclusions, speak for themselves. 



Melbourne, March \ 892. 



