316 Mr. H. J. Carter an 



sufficient to show, as before stated, that it has no specific 

 value, and that all that can be said of it in connexion with 

 the specimens so transformed is to note its presence in one or 

 the other, as the case may be. 



One fact, however, to which I have casually alluded is 

 more particularly worth noting here, viz. that in a specimen 

 oi' Ilirclnia, whose naturally projecting points have been 

 rounded or covered over by the abundance of the filament, 

 there are several ova dispersed through the structure, in which 

 otherwise there is not the smallest portion of the original 

 sareode or soft parts left. These ova, about l-48th in, in 

 diameter, are spherical in form, of a yellow colour, and con- 

 sist of a mass of small nucleated granuliferous cells sur- 

 rounded by a very delicate membrane, supported by a tough 

 capsule in which they are respectively contained; so that it 

 would appear as if this capsule had protected them from the 

 transforming power of the filament. 1 had thought that their 

 contents might have thrown some light upon the development 

 of the " filament " by the granuliferous cells having pre- 

 sented it in an embryonic form ; but not the slightest trace of 

 any such connexion could be detected, so this organism 

 remains, as before, an enigma for future observers to solve. 



Fain. Bibulida. 



We now come to the first family of my order Psamrnone- 

 mata, viz. the Bibulida (see "tabular view," a?itea, p. 215), 

 which in my original classification (op. et Joe. cit. p. 132) is 

 stated to be chaiacterized by " solid fibre, chiefly without core 

 of foreign objects," to which is added a footnote, stating 

 that 1 had never failed to find here and there a fibre cored 

 with foreign objects. 



Possibly this may be the case, but practically it is of no 

 use in a specific point of view ; for if this can only be demon- 

 strated by much searching with the microscope, it can hardly 

 be considered more than accidental, as the species which I 

 am about to describe will show, in which I have not been able 

 to find foreign material in any part of the fibre, even " here 

 and there." 



Euspongia anfractuosa, n. sp. 



Specimen dry, massive, convex, sessile, lobate, spreading 

 irregularly. Consistence firm, light. Colour black on the 

 surface, dark purple within. Surface most irregular, consist- 

 ing of crevices, anfractuosities, circular holes, and irregular 

 depressions ending in the openings of sinuous cavernous 

 cavities internally, which are often bridged over on the sur- 



