114 Mr. H. J. Carter on 



yellov/, in accordance with the transparency of the spiculo- 

 librous reticulated skeleton and the sarcode tilling its inter- 

 stices respectively. Size 3 in. high by 9 x 3 horizontally. 



Depth 19 fath. 



Ohs. There is another specimen in the collection apparently 

 of thesame species, which is simply conical, with a ygyy smooth 

 surface throughout. It is 3^ in. high by 2x31 in. in the 

 base. 



As an instance of the occurrence among the Suberitina of a 

 form almost identical with that first described, although appa- 

 rently a diiferent but closely allied species, I might cite Sub- 

 erites capensis^ Carter, which is now, in its dried state, 14^ in. 

 long and 5^ in. in diameter at the base. It is the specimen 

 to which I have alluded in the 'Annals ' for 1882 (vol. ix. 

 p. 350) as having been brought from Port Elizabeth (Cape 

 Colony), and now in the British Museum, bearing my running- 

 no. " 10," and registered " 71. 6. 5. 1." The pin-like spicule 

 is stouter and shorter than that of Sjnrastrella cunctatrix , and 

 the spinispirula only half the size ; so that with the identity 

 in form it can hardly be considered more than a variety of the 

 latter. 



The structural elevations of the surface in both cases appear 

 to me to occur so often in the Suberites under different forms 

 as to be of characteristic value, while they are most typically 

 developed in Rhaphyrus Grijfithsiiy Bk. [Cliona celata), 

 where they present themselves in defined polygonal spaces in 

 juxtaposition, with a papiliiform area in the centre, which led 

 Schmidt to call this sponge ^' Fapillina suherea.^'' 



12. Spirastrella cunctatrix^ var. robusta^ Carter. 



Massive, stipitate, or much contracted at the base, com- 

 pressed, flabellate, about \ in. thick ; proliferously lobed, 

 especially on one side ; lobes more or less compressed, with 

 round, more or less crenulated, border. Consistence firm, 

 mealy when dry. Colour when fresh " orange-red," now 

 light ochre-yellow. Surface smooth. Vents small, congre- 

 gated about the margin of the lobes. Spicules of two forms, 

 viz. : — 1, skeletal, pin-like, prevailing shape of head globular, 

 but very variable ; shaft fusiform, rather obtusely pointed, 

 about 105 by 2^-6000ths in. more or less ; 2, flesh-spicule a 

 robust spinispirula, the thickest and largest altogether that 

 I have seen, consisting of 2^ bends varying under 11 by 8- 

 GOOOths in., including the spines ; shaft without spines, 2- 

 6000ths in. thick ; the former chiefly confined to the interior 

 and the latter to the surface, where it forms a thick layer. 



