Dr. J. E. Gray on Hyalonemata. 



275 



a. 



h. 



nearly to the apex of the coil. The cavity is partly filled up 

 with irregular contorted plates of different sizes, project- 

 ing from the wall of 

 the cavity. The parietes 

 are thin ; the upper edge 

 of the cavity is thin, 

 sinuous, and not show- 

 ing any indication of 

 having been attached to 

 any marine body. The 

 apex of the coil is sunk in 

 one side of the wall of the 

 large cup-like sponge. 



The second specimen is 

 somewhat like the former; 

 but the upper part of the 

 wall is broken away, the 

 parietes are thickened, 

 and there are three un- 

 equal conical concavities, 

 the middle one much 

 deeper than the rest. 



The third specimen is 

 much more imperfect. It 

 is a square spongy mass, 

 which has been crushed 

 and disintegrated; it has 

 only a moderate-sized 

 central conical concavity ; 

 but a great part of the cup 

 is wanting. 



As far as I have seen, 

 all the sponges are more 

 or less cup-shaped, with 

 a central conical open 

 cavity. 



2. Hyalonema Schultzei is 

 probably a distinct 

 species, as it came 

 from the Philippines ; 

 but it is described 

 probably from a dead 

 specimen of a coil 

 that had lost its bark 

 and animals. 



Hyalonema Sieholdii, growing in the mud? 

 reduced to \ the natural size, a, the 

 contracted polypes on the apex, larger ; 

 h. the parasitic sponge on the apex. 



