116 On Sponges from South Australia. 



fibre ; the same form in the sarcode external to the fibre, but 

 a little larger. Besides the latter, the sarcode is plentifully 

 charged with small, nucleated, granuliferous, spherical cells, 

 about 3-6000ths in. in diameter, like ovules. Size of speci- 

 men, 19 in. long, consisting of about 50 caulescent digita- 

 tions, forming a bundle about 12 in. in diameter. 



Hah. Marine. 



hoc. Port Phillip Heads, S. Australia. Depth 19 fath. 



Oos. The typical form of all the caulescent Chalinas which 

 belong to my group " Digitata" ( l Annals,' 1875, Classifica- 

 tion) is Esper's Spongia poh/chotoma= S. oculata, Lam.,= 

 Chalina oculata, Bk., which latter is the British species, and 

 perhaps the feeblest representative of a form which seems to 

 me to abound all over the world, often in far larger specimens 

 than those of this country, but with very little difference in 

 form, and always with the same kind of acerate spicule. In 

 the present instance the latter is remarkably small, while the 

 keratose element of the fibre is proportionally greater, which, 

 together with the trifid extremities of the branches, charac- 

 terizes the variety. On the coast of Arabia, when fresh, this 

 species is of a reddish-purple colour ; remains of which I have 

 often noticed in the dried specimens at the British Museum, 

 but I have not noticed it in any of Mr. Wilson's spirit- 

 preserved specimens, of which there are several, although, 

 when Jreshj some of these also appear from his Catalogue to 

 have been so coloured. I have also often noticed the plentiful 

 presence of the little " nucleated, granuliferous, spherical, 

 cell-like ova " in this kind of Chalina. The above variety 

 has been deposited in the British Museum, where it bears the 

 Register no. "84. 10. 10. 1." 



EXPLANATION OF FLATE IV. 

 N.B. — Figs. 1 a-d, 2 a-e, 3 a-q, and 4 a-h are drawn to the scale 

 of l-24th to l-6000th inch, fig. 6 to the scale of l-48th to 1-G000th inch, 

 and fig. 7 to l-48th to l-1800th inch. The rest are more or less enlarged, 

 and more or less diagrammatic, views of particular parts. 



Fig. 1. Esperia parasitica, spiculation of. a, skeletal spicule ; b, inequi- 

 anchorate ; c, bihamate ; d, minute inequianchorate; e, ''rosette," 

 showing the Avay in which the inequianchorates are developed 

 en groupe ; /, g, h, free ends of inequianchorates, more magnified, 

 to show the four teeth. 



Fig. 2. Forcepia colonensis, spiculation of. a, skeletal spicule ; b, forcipi- 

 form flesh-spicule ; c, minute equianchorate ; d, minute tricur- 

 vate ; e, minute bihamate. 



Fig. 3. Forcepia crassanchorata, spiculation of. a, skeletal spicule, acuate, 

 subpin-like ; b, skeletal, globularly inflated at each end ; c, forci- 

 pii'orm flesh-spicule ; e, front view of the stout equianchorate ; 

 /, lateral view of the same; g, minute equianchorate; d, biha- 

 mate-like spicule. 



