194 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1887. 



Mr. Carter observes : — "The spicules of the statoblast here as well 

 as in K lacustris are considerably stouter, more curved, cylindrical 

 and more coarsely spined than the ftesh spicules of the sponge gen- 

 erally." 



(5) S. cerebellata, Bk Proe. Zool. Soc. 1863 p. 465. 



Carter thinks this is but a variety of the preceding species. 



(6.) Sponge not branched. 



(6) Spongilla carteri, Bowerbank. (^S. friablllS.^ C-Arter. Proc. Zool. Soc. etc., 

 1863, p. 401). 



"Sponge massive, sessile. Color greenish or faint whitish yellow; 

 structure fragile, crumbling. Skeleton spicule smooth, fusiform, 

 curved, gradually sharp-pointed. Statoblast globular ; aperture 

 infundibular ; crust composed of pyramidal columns of dodecahedral 

 or polyhedral cells, hexagonal in the section, regularly arranged 

 one above another in juxtaposition, perpendicularly to the outside 

 of the chitinous coat, on which they rest ; surrounded by a layer of 

 minute fusiform, curved and gradually sharp-pointed, smooth acer- 

 ates." Carter. 



Loc. Bombay, Mauritius etc. 



In the spring of 1885 specimens of this sponge were kindly sent 

 to me by Col. Nicolas Pike of Brooklyn, New York, who had collec- 

 ted them many years before, while United States Consul at Mauri- 

 tius. He writes :— "The sj^ecimens sent you were gathered by me 

 at the Botanical Gardens, Pamplemousses, Mauritius. They were 

 found growing in masses five or six inches in width, three inches 

 thick and about four in depth. They fringed the southerly side of 

 the pond about a foot below the surface of the water. They were very 

 green when first taken and rather firm in texture. They covered a 

 very limited area in this pond and were not found elsewhere on the 

 island." 



The courtesy of this gentleman has enabled me to observe a pecul- 

 iarity in the gemmules of his collection that was not mentioned as 

 to those from Bombay. While many of them appear to correspond 

 with Mr. Carter's description above : — "aperture infundibular," 

 I find many others having a tubular prolongation of the foraminal 

 orifice, of a length fully one fourth the diameter of the gemmule. 

 These tubules are surrounded like the rest of the chitinous body with 

 columns of relatively large polyhedral cells ; and as they partake of 

 the brittleness of the sponge when dry, I fancy they must often be 

 broken oflf and lost in carriajre. 



