Dr. J. H. Gray on Euplectella speciosa. 487 
LXIV.—Venus’s Flower-basket (Kuplectella speciosa). 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. 
Tue British Museum has lately received a very beautiful speci- 
men of this interesting siliceous Sponge. There are several 
other specimens in London; they were obtained from the Phi- 
lippine Islands. The specimens are subcylindrical, varying a 
little in the extent to which they are dilated upwards, and in 
the width of the fringe round the upper aperture of the tube; 
they are all more or less curved on one side near the base. The 
base is evidently attached to some marine body, perhaps small 
shingle, as it is more or less dilated imto a swollen oblong bag, 
formed of interwoven siliceous spicula, similar to but closer 
together than the longitudinal spicula of the body of the vase: 
this bag encloses a number of fragments of shells, small stones, 
and some sand; and in the fresh specimens it may be an ex- 
panded base attached to the mud and sand. The broad end of 
the tube is covered with a reticulated convex lid, which is also 
to be found in a sponge from Malacca, described by me under 
the name of Aphrocallistes Beatrix (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 115, 
ft). 
Like all showy and beautiful natural productions, it has had 
many describers; and there is a confusion in its history which, 
it is to be hoped, is not shared by that of many others. 
This sponge was first described and figured, in 1833, by 
MM. Quoy and Gaimard, in the ‘ Voyage of the Astrolabe,’ p.302, 
Zoophytes, t. 26. f. 3, under the name of Aleyoncellum speciosum, 
from a very imperfect specimen which had lost the netted lid, 
the fringes on the outside, and a considerable portion of the 
smaller, lower end of the tubes. It was given to the travellers 
by M. Merkus, the Governor of Molucca. They observe: * En 
voyant l’élégante blancheur et la régularité d’un tel tissu on a 
de la peme a se persuader, quwil est le produit d’une réunion 
animaux. On aime mieux en voir un seul au fond de la mer 
travailler & se faire ce logement pour un but quelconque, en 
tirant de sa propre substance, comme le font certaines chenilles, 
la matiére qui se pétrifie aussitét qu’elle est en contact avec 
Peau” (p. 303). 
There can be no doubt of the imperfect state of this sponge, 
from a comparison with a worn and crushed specimen in the 
British Museum, that was obtamed by Capt. Sir Edward Belcher, 
and purchased at the sale of his shells. 
MM. Quoy and Gaimard refer the sponge to the genus Aleyon- 
cellum of De Blainville, and quote at length the generic charac- 
ter given by that author. A very cursory reading of that character 
shows how little it fits their specimen; and it is very difficult 
