388 Mr, T. Higgin on Labaria hemispheerica. 
shaft (fig. 7) ; the crucial arms of which, thickly studded with 
short obtusely pointed spines, are bent downwards, as if to 
embrace or fit to the arms of the large spicules on which they 
rest. 
The strongly woven-together basketwork of the interior, as 
seen through the vesting network, is composed of :—smooth 
spicules of the sexradiate type (that is, acerate with simply 
a central cross indicating their hexactinellid character) ; acerate, 
with four tubercles at the middle of the shaft ; sparsely spined 
acerates, the spines bent towards the middle of the spicule ; 
four-rayed, five-rayed, and six-rayed spicules, the long arms 
of which are bent together in all varieties of ways ; amongst 
these are large and small eight-armed “ birotulates” with dome- 
shaped heads, and some very minute ones; small sexradiate 
spicules, the arms of which are furnished towards the free end 
with three, four, or five long spines projecting in the direction 
of the free end of the arm, but soon becoming bent outwards 
(fig. 14); also a small acerate spicule in great abundance 
peculiar to the species, furnished with fine spines not very 
close together, all of which are bent towards one end of the 
spicule, increasing in length along one third of the spicule 
(viz. from the end from which they look), and then gradually 
diminishing again from this point to the other end of the 
shaft (fig. 11); and plumose spicules in great variety. 
Size :—extreme transverse diameter 44 by 4 inches; depth 
31 inches; diameter of hollow at the labrum 34 by 3 inches ; 
depth of hollow 14 inch; diameter of base 3 by 23 inches ; 
length of bundles of anchoring-spicules 3 to 33 inches, 
Hab. Marine. 
Loc. Cebu, Philippine Islands. 
Obs. The position of the large smooth nail-like spicules is 
readily seen in the figure, which is drawn from a photograph of 
the sponge; and the elevations and depressions on the surface, 
caused by their arms being slightly bent inwards towards the 
shaft, are also easily observed. The large areas enclosed by 
the arms of these large spicules crossing each other are sub- 
divided again and again by smaller spicules of the same form ; 
and the fine network so caused has no doubt supported the 
dermal sarcode, stretched membrane-like upon it and pierced 
with pores. But this sarcode does not now exist in this mem- 
branous form, having apparently contracted round the lines of 
spicules forming this dermal reticulation, and thus left holes 
bordered by spicules, which were filled up by pores respectively 
circumscribed by sarcode. The plumose spicules are all seen 
about the lines of the network ; and if they have ever rested 
