280 Mr. H. J. Carter on some West-Indian 



Hah. Marine. Growing on hard objects. 



Log. Harbour of Acapulco, 4-9 fathoms. 



Obs. The above name and description apply to a great 

 number of specimens of Chalina ch-edged by Capt. W. H. 

 Cawne Warren in the harbour of Acapulco and presented to 

 the Liverpool Free Museum. One cannot help seeing at a 

 glance that they are all a uniformly massive, sub-branched 

 development of the genus Taha^ which so abounds on the other 

 side of the Isthmus of Panama, in the West-Indian seas, 

 under such a variety of detinite and beautiful forms. Here, 

 in the harbour of Acapulco, so far as these sjiecimens inform 

 us, the growth, although extremely exuberant and equally 

 characterized by the spiniferous prolongations of the tissue, 

 presents a sameness which is totally devoid of any striking- 

 form. For convenience, here also the specimens with tubular 

 and solid branches respectively have been described together. 

 In short, after all, they are but varieties of the same fabric. 



Pseudochalinic.a (new family). 



In my order Psammonemata I have proposed the family 

 " Pseudohircinida " for receiving all sponges that, in addition 

 to the sand-grains &c. (foreign microscopic objects) axiating 

 their fibre, also present " proper spicules " — that is, spicules 

 formed by the sponge itself; but as this mixture often occurs 

 in adult sponge-forms which rather belong to sponges charac- 

 terized by the " proper spicules " themselves than by the 

 sand-grains, it seems to me desirable that each order should 

 have a family of this kind for the adult forms which 

 are most characteristic of it, Tlius, two instances in 

 sponges which evidently belong to the Iilia])hidonemata have 

 come to my notice, viz. one in the solid Chalina^, which I 

 have grouped under the head of '^ Digitata," and the otiier in 

 the hollow Chalina'^ wliich I have named " Tubulodigitata ;" 

 these I will now briefly describe under the names of Chalina 

 digitata^ var. arenosa, and Cavochalina dic/itataj var. a7-enosa, 

 respectively : — 



Chalina digitaia, var. arenosaj n. s. 



Stipitate, quickly dividing poUachotomously into several 

 cauliform branches ; branches tliick, round, even, solid, with 

 vents plentifully scattered over the surface. Fibre kerasine, 

 resilient, covered or axiated with acerate spicules, among which 

 there are many microscopic foreign objects, sand-grains, &c. 

 Size of specimen 15 inches long. (British Museum, no. 106**, 

 registered 57. 1. 2. 9.) 



