22 Mr. H. J. Carter on the 



tinge, and varying under l-6000th of an inch in diamster, 

 although rarely attaining tliis size in this state. They are, 

 when in situ, congregated round a nucleated cell (the " Kern ") 

 which is often so indistinct here as to be very difficult to see, 

 owing to its delicate (? polymorphic) structure and the opaque 

 mass which the granules form when closely applied to it in 

 juxtaposition ; or they are scattered throughout the syn- 

 cytium in the same way as in the Foraminifera, as the 

 *' preparation," to which I have before alluded, which was 

 made after Schultze's method, described by him in his exami- 

 nation of EiqjlecteUa aspergillum (' Challenger ' Reports, 

 separate copy, p. 5), plainly shows, where the granuliferous 

 protoplasm or syncytium can be seen in a reticulated branched 

 form extending across the cavity of the tubular thread, very 

 much like that of Gromia oviformis, represented by Max 

 Schultze in his " Organismus d. Polythalamien " (1854, 

 tab. i. fig. 1). So that one feels inclined to infer that, ex- 

 cepting for its spicules and the spongozoa, the sponge would 

 be very nearly allied to a Foraminifer in this respect. 



Iodine does not turn them purple, nor does liquor potassas 

 dissolve them ; but strong nitric acid appears to destroy their 

 sphericity, which may be brought back again by the addition 

 of liquor potass^. This glairy refractive appearance gives 

 them the aspect of fat or albumen ; while, like the green 

 granules in Hpoyigilla, they appear in the sulphur-yellow and 

 scarlet varieties of Grantia clathriis to be the seat of these 

 colours respectively, when they might be termed " pigmental." 

 It is possible that they grow into the larger cells of the pro- 

 toplasm (the "Kerne"), from which they appear to be 

 derived, when they may fulfil other offices ; for Lieber- 

 kiihn has long since shown that the " Korperparenchym," = 

 syncytium, can enclose and extract nourishment from Infu- 

 soria in the same manner as '"'' Actinoplirys soP^ (Muller's 

 Archiv, 1857, Heft iv. p. 388). So the particles of wood 

 taken into the plasmodia of j^thaUum indicate the same 

 consequence. But whatever the office of the granules may 

 be no one as yet lias demonstrated beyond conjecture what 

 they are or what purpose they may subserve either in the 

 sponges or in the Khizopoda, — so they are still called '^ the 

 granules." 



The canal-system consists of the usual inhalant and 

 excretory divisions : the former of minute pores which 

 can only be seen by the microscope on the outside of a 

 dried Avell-preserved specimen, where they are bordered by 

 the granuliferous sarcode or syncytium ; here, too, probably, 

 in the living state, composed of a congeries of distinct nu- 



