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poi'tion was frayed out, so that the glass threads were 

 separated from one another. It was evidently not perfect, 

 and a question had arisen where specimens were first seen 

 brought from Japan, whether it Avas a natural production or 

 a misdirected industry of those ingenious people. It appears 

 that Ehi'enberg took this view, when he examined the 

 Hyalonema, recognising the silicious strands as the spicules 

 of a sponge quite independent of the Zoophyte with which 

 they Avere encrusted. After an examination of the specimens, 

 the conclusion I arrived at, and the opinion I gave, was, that 

 the Zoophyte was imperfect. On my return to Sydney, I 

 found on reference to Professor Wyville Thompson's recent 

 work on the " Depths of the Sea," that the conclusion I 

 arrived at was correct, and that perfect specimens of this 

 remarkable sponge had been obtained, not from Japan, but 

 at first from the coast of Portugal and subsequently from 

 the coast of Scotland. The species obtained from the 

 coast of Portugal was discovered by Professor Barboza de 

 Bocage, and is named Hyalonema lusitanicum (of which 

 an engraving is given from which I send a copy) it is 

 closely related to the glass rope sponges of Japan, which have 

 so long perplexed naturalists to determine their position in 

 the animal series, and their relation to their constant 

 companion the parasitic Palythoa, a genus of Zoophytes. 

 Respecting the capture of Hyalonema on the coast of Scotland, 

 Wyville Thompson says : — Off the Butt of Lewis, north of the 

 Hebrides, or western islands of Scotland, *' we met in water 

 of 450 to 500 fathoms, on two occasions, with full grown 

 specimens of a species of the remarkable genus Hyalonema, 

 with the coils in the larger examples upwards of forty 

 centimetres in length. Hyalonema is certainly a very striking 

 object, and although our specimens belong apparently to the 

 same species, H. lusitanicum, of Professor Barboza de Bocage, 

 from the coast of Portugal, it is one of the most interesting 

 additions made to the British Fauna during our cruise." He 

 further describes this curious sponge as follows : — " A bundle 

 of from 200 to 300 threads of transparent silica, glistening 

 with a silky lustre, like the most brilliant spun glass, each 

 thread from 30 to 40 centimetres long, in the middle the 

 thickness of a knitting needle, and gradually tapering towards 

 either end to a fine point ; the whole bundle coiled like a 

 strand of rope into a lengthened spiral, the threads of the 

 middle and upper portions remaining compactly coiled by a 

 permanent twist of the individual threads ; the lower part of 

 the coil, which, when the sponge is living, is imbedded in the 

 mud, frayed out so that the glossy threads stand separate 

 from one another, like the bristles of a glittering brush ; the 



