NEPTUNE'S CUP. 683 



Neptune's Cup is one of the most magnificent, as well as one of the 

 most notable, of the Sponge tribe. It hardly looks like a Sponge; and 

 when a specimen is shown to persons who have no knowledge of the 

 subject, they can hardly ever be made to believe that the exhibitor is 

 not endeavoring to play a practical joke upon them. 



The Neptune's Cup is of enormous dimensions, often measuring four 

 feet in height and having a corresponding width. Its exterior is rough, 

 gnarled, and knotted like the bark of some old tree ; and if a portion 

 W'Cre removed from the side, it might almost be mistaken for a piece 

 of cork tree bark. Many persons have imagined that the strangely- 

 shaped 'object was made of the skin of an elephant's leg, and I have 

 even heard a teacher telling her pupils that it was an old Roman wine- 

 jar. 



This is one of the exotic Sponges, being found only in the hotter 

 xieas. 



