660 i:. KIRKPATR[CK. 



among" many specimens I failed to tincl any calcareous 

 spicules, " tuning-fork " or otherwise. 



At first sio'ht it seemed tliat Merli a must be some unknown 



calcareous organism, viz. Foraminiferan, Pharetronid sponge. 



Coral or Polyzoan, infested by a remarkable siliceous sponge. 



Weltner, (2) who had seen some of the fresh specimens and 



sections, published a short paper entitled "1st Merlia 



Normani Kirkp. ein Schwamm?" in which he stated his 



belief that Merlia was an unknown calcareous organism, and 



that the siliceous sponge associated with it was merely a 



"raumparasit" which wouldprobably be discovered sheltering 



itself in other suitable situations. Later, in a paper on 



Astrosclera willeyana, Weltner (3) again expressed his 



opinion that the siliceous sponge had simply incrusted and 



grown into the calcareous organism. There was, however, an 



important objection to this theory. When shells on which 



the Merlia was growing w^ere ground down till the base of the 



Merlia appeared, the cavities or "crypts"^ of the calcareous 



framework were found crammed witli the large granular 



"crypt" cells even five stories down below the surface, and 



frequently such crypts were roofed over by tabuke in 



which the central hole has become reduced to an almost 



imperceptible slit from I to 3/x in diameter. A propos 



of the crypts and the cells inside them, to the question 



"Whose grave is this?" the answer seemed to be, "^Tis 



indeed thine, since thou liest in it." I concluded that the 



cells had been formed in situ and had not grown down from 



the surface. I named the siliceous sponge Noronha 



scalarif orm is, but failed to arrive at any definite opinion 



concerning the calcareous structure, pointing out, however, 



its resemblance to certain Pula^ozoic fossils (Monticuli- 



pora sensu lato, Rhaphi dopora) and to Heliopora. (4) 



Further examination showed that the masses of crypt-tissue 



were in vital continuity with the sponge at the surface. In 



some instances bundles of siliceous spicules were found 



imbedded amongst them. The existence of a sponge Avith 



' A name suggested l>y Prof. E. A. Minchiii. 



