88 Mr. E. Parfitt on the Structure 



XII. — On the Structure o/Haliphysema Tumanowiczil. 

 By E. Parfitt. 



To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, 



In the April number of tlie * Annals ' the Eev. A. M. 

 Norman has drawn attention to that much-abused and much- 

 written-about little sponge Ilalijphysema Tumanowiczil, Bower- 

 bank. Although this little organism has' been scrutinized so 

 much, there are certain points of interest in its sti-ucture that 

 appear to have been overlooked. 1 was the first to draw 

 attention to the peculiar structure of the base of the test, 

 showing that the base was divided by septa, and that the 

 septa radiated after the manner of the spokes of a wheel. 

 This I published in the * Transactions of the Devonshire As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and 

 Art,' in 1868, in the continuation of my " Fauna of Devon," 

 section Spongiada3. Copies of this section I forwarded to 

 several naturalists who 1 knew took an interest in the study 

 of sponges, viz. our late friend Dr. Bowerbank, Mr. Carter, 

 the Rev. A. M. Norman, &c. 



The Rev. A. M. Norman says, in his article above referred 

 to (p. 267), " Next Mr. Carter entered into a minute descrip- 

 tion of the chambered character of the discoidal base, thus 

 confirming Mr. Parfitt's observations, of which, however, he 

 does not seem to have been aware." 



But Mr. Carter had my paper in his hands, and might, I 

 think, have credited me with this little discovery. The struc- 

 ture is so remarkable, and, I believe, so far is unique in the 

 structure of the Spongiad^e. Had it not been for the Rev. A. 

 M. Norman's very clear and excellent paper, with the chrono- 

 logical arrangement of the various artjcles that have been 

 written on this Haliphysema, I should not have observed that 

 I had been so soon lost sight of. 



Before the departure of the Rev. A. M. Norman for Nor- 

 way I wrote him to this effect, that all had not been discovered 

 yet in the structure of this little sponge, at the same time 

 giving him rough sketches of the discoveries. But before 1 

 proceed to describe what I have observed, it may be as well 

 to state that, although in a great many specimens the septa 

 are radiated, some from a circular ring placed in the centre of 

 the base of the test, from which from four to eight radii diverge 

 and meet the periphery, or the reverse of this, they either gr6w 

 or are rather built up from the periphery towards the centre ; 

 this remains to be seen. Be this as it may, the radii are 

 sometimes enlarged at one end and sometimes at the other; 



