CHOANITES KONIGI. 943 
Srponta Morristana. Lign. 69, fig. 3.—A polished slice 
_of a pebble from Brighton, whose markings are derived from 
the transverse section of an undescribed zoophyte is figured, 
ante, p. 224: though scarcely more than half the diameter 
of the original is preserved, yet its structure is well shown ; 
the centre is occupied by numerous parallel openings, the 
sections of longitudinal tubes, and is surrounded by a broad 
| zone of spongeous tissue. 
I have seen many examples of this beautiful fossil, set for 
-brooches in the jewellers’ shops in the Isle of Wight, and at 
Brighton.* 
Siphoniz (chiefly S. pyriformis) are abundant in the 
_ Upper Greensand, near Farnham in Surrey, but their tissues 
are saturated with phosphate of lime, instead of silica as is 
ordinarily the case; the entire sponge usually contains be- 
_ tween 50 and 60 per cent. of phosphate: hence these fossils 
_ have, of late, been in great request for manure.t 
_ Cxoanites Konici, Lign. 75.—The zoophyte which has 
| given rise to the fossils I have distinguished by the name of 
Choanites,t is of a spheroidal or subovate form, and appears 
to have been composed of a softer tissue than the ordinary 
: sponges. It has a central cavity, and was fixed at the base 
? by long rootlets: its mass is traversed by numerous tubes or 
_ channels, which open on the inner surface of the cavity; it 
differs from Siphonia in not having a stem composed of 
2 
_ * The specific name is in honour of John Morris, Esq. F.G.S. the 
_ author of the “Catalogue of British Fossils,” whose important services 
_ to Paleontology and Geology it is gratifying thus to acknowledge. 
_ There are coloured figures of Siphoniz in Pictorial Atlas, pl. xxxix, 
)fig.9; pl. xlii. fig. 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, and 13; pl. xliii. fig. 6. 
+ Mr. Payne, of Farnham, a distinguished agriculturist, has largely 
| made use of them, both in the natural state and treated with sulphuric 
acid. The Firestone strata on St. Catherine’s Hill, Isle of Wight, have 
been dug for a like purpose. See an “Account of the Phosphate 
-Diggings,” in my Isle of Wight, Second Edition, p. 448, 
 t Foss. 8. D. p. 178. 
id Re Sa eae 
