Dr. J. E. Gray on Codiopliyllum. 139 



tliird S])ccics of tlmt genus, being widely (liHevcnt from tlio 

 antarctic and Philippine ones. 



Eujjlectella asper(j ilium . 



Dr. A. B. Meyer has brought home, and -placed in the Bri- 

 tish Museum, two specimens of this sponge in spirits from the 

 Philippines, which are entirely covered with a thick coat of 

 sarcodc like the bark on a Gorgonia, but softer, so that the 

 siliceous fibres are entirely hidden from view. No one would 

 suspect that tliis sponge had such a beautiful lace-like struc- 

 ture, but simply a netted or pierced tube, with irregular, cir- 

 cular, thicker hoops. The flesh or sarcode is of a dark brown 

 colour, but most likely is coloured by the action of the sp>irit. 



Esperiadcc — Along with these sponges were sent some frag- 

 ments of a sponge, according to Mr. Carter's examination, 

 " nearly allied to Ilalichondria incrustans^ with three kinds of 

 spicules: — 1, large, subulate, smooth; 2, bihamatc; 3, cqul- 

 anchorate, larger than the bihamatc." 



Mr. Carter's microscopical examination of Meyerina clavi- 

 foniiis and Crateromorjjha Mei/cri will be found at pp. 110-113 

 of this Number of the ' Annals.' 



XXI. — On Codiopliyllum, a nevi Genus of Unicellular Green 

 Algct'.from Port Natal By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. 



[Plate IX.] 



Among a large collection of corals and corallines from Port 

 Natal, sent by Colonel Bolton, I observed some specimens of 

 a green spt)ngy alga of a thick cloth-like textm-c, more or l(\'^s 

 of a wedge-shape, and borne on a solid, cylindrical stem, 

 which is branched at the bottom, and may be a distinct llho- 

 dosperm Alga on Avhich it is parasitic. This stem pierces and 

 su])ports the broad, expanded frond, and is branched so that 

 the branches support the different parts of the expansion. 

 When the felt-like cloth is carefully examined, it is found to 

 consist of ii very fine network of fine cylindrical tubular fil)re, 

 which inosculates in every direction, leaving a minute mesh. 

 When looked at in a mass, the mesh seems to be arranged 

 in very obscure circles concentric to the outer margin, indi- 

 cating the lines of growth, the mesh of the outer edge being- 

 incomplete. The stem is tough and fieshy when soaked in 

 water, but becomes cartilaginous when chy ; in the younger 

 specimens it is tortuous and slightly branched, each branch 



