Sponge from the Philippine Islands. 381 
rope, which is there surrounded by an irregular line of closely 
packed, small, sexradiate spicules interspersed with plain and 
tubercled acerates. The form most noticeable here is a crucial- 
shaped spicule (Pl. XXII. fig. 2), the arms of which measure 
about 1-100th of an inch in length, straight or more or less bent 
towards the extremities, and closely studded near the points 
with short, obtusely pointed, vertical spines, which appear 
to represent the “ cylindro-cruciform ”’ spicules of Hyalonema 
Steboldii figured by Dr. Bowerbank (B3sS.Svolsae p2252: 
pl. vi. figs. 153- “156), the “spinicruces”’ (?) of Brandt. Another 
prominent spicule is the smooth-armed nail-like form, and the 
same furnished near the ends of the arms with short obtusely 
pointed spines. There are also many extremely slender 
long-armed crucial and six-rayed spicules, with the arms of 
varying lengths, sometimes smooth and sometimes furnished 
sparingly with long spines bent in some instances towards the 
points, in other cases towards the base of the arms. There 
is also a development of the four-armed plumose spicule into 
the sexradiate form, another shaft opposite the plumose one 
being projected, rather longer than the other, and thickly 
studded, like the crucial arms (which are nearly as long as 
the plumose shaft), with short obtusely pointed spines : some- 
times also this form occurs with only two of the crucial 
arms produced. The minute birotulate, too, is very numerous 
here. 
The height of the sponge, measuring in the part from 
which the anchoring rope issues, is about 54 } inches, its breadth 
is about 4? inches; and the length of glass rope visible is nearly 
10 inches, with a diameter of 4 an inch close to the sponge. 
Hab. Marine. 
Loc. Cebu, Philippine Islands. 
Obs. The fact of the sponge having lost the latticework 
covering on its upper half, and the canal-system being in 
consequence either exposed or covered with a matted mass 
of spicules, led at first to the inference that it had become 
detached from the sea-bottom, and had either been cast up on 
the shore or had been rolling ‘about for some time on its sides, 
and had so accumulated the matted mass from witheut. But 
when it was found that the mass contained only the spicules 
of the species, it appeared unlikely that it had been so gathered 
up; for if the sponge had been rolling about on the sea-bottom, 
the matted part would probably have contained a number of 
spicules belonging to many other sponges. On consulting 
Mr. H. J. Carter, F.R.S., who has been most kind in ex- 
pressing his opinion on this sponge, in pointing out different 
points of special interest, and in reviewing and discussing the 
