244 



i.e., flexible and rather tough ; marked with radiating ridges or 

 series of conuli ; colour, grey. A few small oscules, .75 mm. 

 in diameter, scattered about ; cortex absent ; ground substance 

 semi-transparent. 



Skeleton formed of radiating bundles of large styles branched 

 in a fan-like manner. 



Spicules. — Large style, 1230 x 22 m, curved at the junction of 

 the upper and middle third. 



Oxea, 620 X 5 M, straight, sharp pointed. 



Locality E. — Cone Point, Natal, 34 fathoms ; bottom, broken 

 shells. 



The specimen, which is 6 cm. in height, 4 cm. in breadth, 

 and .5 cm. in thickness, expands upwards from a thickened 

 base which appears to have been cut off from its attachment. 

 No specific name has been attached to it. 



Axinella, sp. 



Sponge consisting of a simple, erect, unbranched stem-like 

 growth of pale brick-red colour, and with a fluffy surface. 



Skeleton formed of a dense axial core of styles, giving off 

 tuft-like bundles which are directed obliquely upwards. 



Spicules. — Style, 590 x 28 ^t, with a sharp curve near the 

 basal end. 



Locality C. — - Off Tugela River mouth, 65-80 fathoms ; 

 bottom, hard ground. 



The specimen is 5.5 cm. in height, by .5 cm. in diameter at 

 the thickest central part. The stem above its attachment is at 

 first smooth, but soon becomes tufted. 



The sponge is shaped like a cypress tree, the stem being at 

 first smooth, then tufted, and terminating in a point. The 

 species is near Axinella erecta, Carter, which occurs in the 

 South Atlantic and Southern Oceans, but chiefly differs from 

 the latter in the absence of the crooked strongyles. 



The one specimen probably represents a new species, but is 

 too immature to be made the type of a species. 



Genus Syringella (Schmidt). 



Syringella gorgonioides, sp. n. 



Plate v., Fig. ii. Plate VI., Fig. iia, b. 



Sponge forming a thin flabelliform clathrate expansion, 

 flexible but inelastic, spreading from a thick hard stem ; surface 

 rough and granular, slightly hirsute from projecting glassy 



