28 M. C. Semper on Euplectella aspergillum. 



As Gray correctly observes, the Spaniards in Cebd and 

 Manilla regard this sponge as a house built for itself by the 

 inhabitant. To judge from Gray's last memoir, this opinion 

 seems now to have been adopted by a French naturalist un- 

 known to me, M. Trimoulet, of Bordeaux. When Gray adds, 

 ^^ The [Spanish ?] fishermen's theory has found one scientific 

 supporter at least," I should be inclined to regard the word 

 "scientific" as employed o\Aj cum grano salis. In fact the 

 most superficial knowledge of the structure of the sponge on 

 the one hand, and of the habits of the Crustacea on the other, 

 suffices to prove that this opinion might certainly originate in 

 the brain of a Malay fisherman, but that its scientific assertion 

 would be a most startling task, which few would have desire 

 or courage to undertake. It is true one must make discoveries ; 

 and if they are accepted and become the fashion only for a 

 short time, this is perhaps sufficient for the attainment of the 

 desired honour. I regard it as superfluous, after the beautiful 

 investigations of Owen and Bowerbank upon this sponge, to 

 describe its intimate structure over again, in order to strengthen 

 the assertion that this French savant must and will find him- 

 self in error. 



And even if Trimoulet's assertion " that it is the nest of a 

 crustacean of the section of the Isopodes nageurs " were quite 

 correct, it is true that an Isopod, a true ^ga^ lives in the 

 sponge, but not alone ; for even still more frequently we 

 find in it a pair of a pretty Palaemonid, which, unfortunately, 

 I cannot determine generically from the much damaged speci- 

 mens now before me. If M. Trimoulet's " renseignements " 

 had been a little more complete, he would also have heard 

 from the same Spaniards in Cebii that the " Cuca"* (that is 

 to say, my ^ga spongiophila) is always found singly, but 

 that, on the contrary, the "Camarones"t (the Palaemonidse 

 above mentioned) always live in it in pairs — a married couple 

 and the friend of the family ! And, according to Trimoulet, 

 it is probable that their united endeavours have succeeded in 

 weaving together the delicate siliceous web of the whole 

 sponge, both without and within. Both forms of Crusta- 

 cea have long been known to me. Of one of them {^ga 

 spongiojphila) I made a sufficiently careful drawing in Cebu, 



* " Cuca " is abbreviated from the Spanish word " cucaracha," by 

 which, in Spain, all kinds of cockroaches and also the Asellini are indi- 

 cated. 



t " Camaron " is the Spanish name for every Palsemonid, both of fresh 

 and salt water. Both denominations furnish a fresh proof of how cor- 

 rectly uneducated and so-called savage people are frequently guided by 

 their sharpened senses. 



