Dr. J. E. Gray on Euplcctclla speciosa. 489 



Professor Owen, from the manner he quotes Alcyoncellum gela- 

 iinosum of Do Blainville and A. speciosum of Quoy and Gaimard, 

 evidently considers that they are synonyms of the same species 

 instead of two genera belonging to different families of sponges. 

 He gave a new name to the genus because the specimen figured 

 by Quoy and Gaimard had neither a netted lid to the tube nor 

 fringes ; but this only arose from the imperfect state of their 

 specimen ; the new name, however, was required in consequence 

 of their mistake in referring It to the genus Alcyoncellum of 

 De Blainville. 



Dr. Bowerbank, in the ' Introduction to the British Sponges,' 

 which is chiefly a reprint of his papers in the ' Philosophical 

 Transactions,' makes some observations on this beautiful sponge, 

 and is very severe on Professor Owen, accusing him of a mis- 

 take he did not make, because he called the widest part of a 

 cone its base. As usual, when he leaves his microscope and 

 goes to the book, he is in confusion. He at once sets aside 

 Professor Owen's generic name, and adopts that used by MM. 

 Quoy and Gaimard; but it is easy to see how this mistake 

 arose. In consulting their work he entirely overlooked the 

 generic character quoted from De Blainville. He evidently does 

 not know, or at least quote, the ' Manuel' of M. de Blainville; 

 nor does he recognize the figure of the sponge on which the 

 genus Alcyoncellum is established, either under the name of 

 Euplcctclla or Grantia. Dr. Bowerbank quotes the generic cha- 

 racter of Alcyoncellum given in Lamarck as " the generic de- 

 scription of Quoy and Gaimard." He gives, as the type of the 

 genus Euplectella, " E. corhicula, Quoy and Gaimard," a name 

 not to be found in their work ; he goes on to regard E. corhicula 

 and E. speciosa as two species, and he thinks that Euplec- 

 tella is a parasitic sponge, and clings to other marine bodies. 

 But it is useless to continue to quote " the singular number of 

 errors into which he has fallen in the description of this beautiful 

 sponge," as he says of Professor Owen. 



A crab is generally found in the cavity of the sponges. The 

 Spaniards in Manilla regard them as formed by the crabs for 

 their protection, and they do not consider the specimens perfect 

 unless a crab is contained therein. I have, within the last few 

 days, had a pair offered to me for an extravagant sum (c€200), 

 because they contained the crab that formed them. The crab 

 must take up its place in the tube before the network in the 

 upper end of it is formed, as, when that part is added, it 

 becomes imprisoned in the tube. 



