Dr. J. E. Gray on Hyalonema Schultzei. 373 
sing; for its diameter is often six times as large as the thick- 
ness of the coating. Unfortunately the only specimen known 
has been much bleached, so that it is impossible to say 
whether the almost total absence of all detached  silice- 
ous bodies may be looked on as a distinguishing character of 
this genus. Judging from the structure of the tissue, this 
sponge might perhaps be ranged in the same genus with 
Frarrea orca, Bowerb.; but as only fragments are known of 
the latter, which possibly might belong to Huplectella cucumer, 
Owen, in whose roots they were found, for the present Furrea 
orca and Hurete simplicissima, S., must be considered different 
species. A careful examination of the tissue of Huplectella 
cucumer would settle the question. Detailed descriptions will 
shortly appear in the ‘Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie.’ 
XLVII.—Note on Hyalonema Schultzei, Semper. 
By Dro Js Gray, WR. te. 
AFTER studying the translation of Dr. Semper’s description of 
Hyalonema Schultzed made for me by his wife, Frau Anna 
Semper, to whom we are indebted for the beautiful figure of 
the Philippine Holothuria, and considering the additional in- 
formation that Dr. Semper has most kindly communicated to 
me personally during his stay in London, I have come to the 
conclusion that it 1s very doubtful if Hyalonema Schultzet 
really belongs to the genus to which Dr. Semper refers it, and 
if it is not rather a true Sponge, a species of Huplectella, or, 
may be, of a new genus of sponges very nearly allied to Hu- 
plectella. Unfortunately only a single specimen has as yet 
been obtained, and it 1s without any polypes, if it ever had 
any, which I doubt. It certainly differs in many most im- 
portant particulars from what I have given in my paper in the 
October Number of the ‘ Annals’ as the character of the group 
Hyalonemade. 
The long spicules of H. Schultze’, which have been com- 
pared to the spicules of Hyalonema, are like those of Huplec- 
tella; they have a cup-shaped knob or anchor at the tip, and 
a series of recurved spines on the part near the tip, like those 
figured by Owen (Linn. Trans. xxi. t. 21. f.6&7.) These 
spicules agree with those of both the species of Huplectella 
known, and are quite unlike those of Hyalonema, which are 
always imperfect at the end, without any anchor or projecting 
spines, but with rings of small spines directed towards the 
middle of the spicules, as described in my late paper. 
It is said that the upper ends of the long spicules of H. 
