440 On Sponges from South Australia, 



approximated, whilst the shaft is continued backwards in the 

 opposite direction. The interest attaching- to this spicule is 

 that it was first noticed and represented by Dr. Bowerbank in 

 a mounting from a calcareous sponge, found at or near Free- 

 mantle, at the south-western angle of Australia (Phil. Trans. 

 1862, pi. xxxvi. figs. 18 and 19, repeated in his J\Ion. Brit. 

 SpongiadjB, vol. i. p. 268, pi. x. fig. 237), of which Dr. J. 

 E. Gray made a genus under the name of " Lelapia^'' and a 

 species under that of " L. australis " (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, 

 p. 557), and which Dr. G. J. Hinde, F.G.S., discovered in 

 two fossilized calcareous sponges, respectively named Sestro- 

 stomeUa rugosa and S. clavata (' Annals,' 1882, vol. x. 

 p. 185), confirmed by myself in a specimen of the former 

 from the Jura ; and, further, that I have now found it abun- 

 dantly in a recent calcareous sponge from the neighbourhood 

 of " Western Poi-t,'" Victoria, S. Australia, among Mr. 

 Wilson's collection from this part, as will be seen hereafter, 

 when it Avill be found to be described under Dr. Gray's name, 

 i. e. " Lela'pia australis^ Hackel observed the same form 

 in his Leucetta pandora^ also from the south coast of Aus- 

 tralia (op. cit. ' Atlas,' Taf. 23. fig. h), and in his " con- 

 nective variety " of Leucortis^ viz. Leucandra pulvinar [ib. 

 vol. iii. p. 166), from the western coast of Australia &c. ; but 

 in neither is the spiculation the same as in our species, which, 

 as just stated, will be called " Lelapia australis.^^ 



As regards the measurements of the spicules, I would pre- 

 mise that, where given, they are intended to represent the 

 largest size of their kind, or the size of the most characteristic 

 forms of the species that I have seen ; for to go further would be 

 only to multiply assumptions, since in the hasty observation 

 of the minor radiates, which are by far the most numerous, 

 it is difficult to find two which are exactly alike; besides, 

 as I have before stated, the triradiate is always more or 

 less raised in the centre, so as to become tripod-like, whereby 

 it becomes next to impossible to measure its arms accurately. 

 Hence, both in the smaller and the larger spicules, the mea- 

 surements must always be taken as approximative ; while 

 they will for the most part be given in '' 6000ths " of an 

 inch, that the student may realize their relative dimensions. 

 I regret that I cannot go more into detail in this matter ; but 

 as stated above respecting the dyeing and making microscopic 

 sections, which is a comparatively long process, it is to be 

 hoped that what I am not able to do now may be supplied 

 by others hereafter. 



Also, to avoid unnecessary repetition in the text, I may at 

 once state that, except in a few instances, neither the " liabi- 



