Proceedings. cliii 



remarkable character, and included an abundance of sponge 

 remains (Trans., Art. 87). (6). I gave a sbort account of " The 

 manufacture of Tappa Cloth in Fiji," which cloth is merely a 

 woody fibre beaten out from the inner bark of the bread-fruit 

 tree after maceration (Trans., Art. 88). 



October 8th. — By Mr. W. Murton Holmes on " Sponges." In 

 this paper the lecturer gave an interesting account of the 

 structure of these organisms, especially in regard to their 

 spicules, the forms of which are exceedingly diversified. He 

 illustrated his observations with a large number of well executed 

 diagrams and drawings, and compared recent forms with their 

 fossil representatives (Trans., Art. 89), 



November 12th. — I contributed some " Observations upon the 

 Life-history and Habits of the Marine Decapod CrustacesB of the 

 British Seas." These animals exhibit many points of special 

 interest to the naturalist, and their habits show in various 

 species wide divergences. For example the swimming crabs, 

 Purtunus, Polybius, dc, have the terminal joint of the l^-st pair of 

 legs paddle-shaped, whilst their entire carapace is chitinous and 

 delicate ; whereas species inhabiting a rocky shore, such as the 

 genera Xantho, Lithodes, dc, possess a powerful and heavily cal- 

 careous shell. Some species, such as Pisa, Inackus, dc, are 

 exceedingly sluggish in their movements, and are frequently 

 covered with growths of sponge and algaa : whilst nearly the 

 whole of the Palcemonida are vivaceous and rapid in their 

 movements. The question of protective colouring is also one of 

 great interest, for whilst almost all species inhabiting estuaries 

 or muddy localities are dull and sombre in tint, those even of 

 the same species, which are obtained from clear water of a 

 granite district and which live amongst brilliant algae, are almost 

 invariably bright and vivid in their colours. The Porcellanidm 

 are especially remarkable for their wonderful protective adaptation 

 to surrounding conditions. There are also points of great 

 interest in connection with the early conditions of life of these 

 animals, for it is an universal rule that all those species such as 

 Palinurm, Homarus, dc, which in their primary stages are a 

 prey to fishes, produce ova in enormous masses ; whilst those 

 differently situated and which enjoy a certain amount of pro- 

 tection, produce only a small number of ova: of these latter 

 may be mentioned the genera Axius, Gebia, and Callianassa. It 

 is remarkable that the common crab. Cancer pagurus, is never as 

 a rule found with ova, and for years I had searched in vain for 

 it. Certain species of Crustaceans live buried in the sand 

 beneath the water, and others burrow in the rough shingle 

 formed by the detritus of granite rocks : of the former Thia polita 

 is a good example, and of the latter Gebia deltura, whilst Corystes 

 cassivelaumis buries its body and waves its long antennae as a bait 



