THE EUPLECTELLA 63 



For the sake of seeing the splendid specimens of 

 4 Venus's flower baskets ' alone, it would repay any 

 one interested in this branch of Natural History to 

 spend an hour or two in front of the case of 

 euplectellae in the South Kensington Museum. The 

 case forms one of the boundaries of the coral depart- 

 ment. Definitions and descriptions, however accu- 

 rately scientific, can help us but little to understand 

 what these lovely objects are like in shape, texture, 

 and lightness. We must actually see them for our- 

 selves in order to realize their matchless attractive- 

 ness. They seem to occupy a place in Nature far 

 removed from the generality of marine forms of life. 

 Yet they have a definite position along with the 

 sponge family. The experienced zoologist, Professor 

 H. Alleyne Nicholson, says : ' The " Venus's flower 

 basket," without any exception, is one of the 

 most exquisite of all organic structures known to 

 us.' 



There are in the glass case to which I have referred 

 sponges that look like extra finely worked birds' 

 nests enveloped in lace -like covers, cornucopia- 

 shaped baskets and vases, and several glass-rope 

 sponges of the Hyalonema family. The Hyalonema 

 possesses a flowing mass of transparent flinty 

 threads, resembling spun glass. These filaments are 

 used for attaching the sponge to the bottom of the 

 sea. They are much longer than those of euplec- 

 tella. Fairly good specimens can be bought for half 

 a guinea, but the best glass-rope sponges fetch many 



