474 m/scelhtneous. 



fulfilled its duties as a scicutitic tribunal with liiuli iiunar- 

 tiality. 



Now, Darwin is dead ; and most certainly no one within 

 these walls has withheld sincere and cordial regrets from this 

 true and great naturalist, who chose to pass his whole life, 

 solely devoted to study and meditation, in a modest retreat, 

 far from the honours Avliich it would have been so easy for 

 him to attain, and which came to seek him when he could 

 no longer avoid them. 



MI8CELLANE0UH. 



Tliree inore Freshwattr S^^omjes. 



Mr. Euw. Potts had described in the Proceedings iiuder dale of 

 July 26, 1881, a new species of CartercUa, C. Jatitenta ; his later 

 identified findings during that }'car are here mentioned. 



Meyenla craterifonna. 



This sponge, first found during September 1881, in the Brand}- 

 wine, near Chadd's Ford, is of very delicate structure. Its frame- 

 work of skeleton-spicules is exceedingly meagre and slightly bound 

 together, scarcely amounting to a system of meshes and polyhedral 

 interspaces, as in most other sponges ; and, as a consequence, we 

 find the numerous small white statospheres lying in recesses far 

 larger than themselves, freely exposed to view from the upper or 

 outer side of the sponge. This trait is only seen in the thinnest of 

 inerusting sponges. 



The skeleton-spicules may be described as acerate, gradually 

 sharp-pointed, sparsely and very minutely microspined. With these 

 were mingled smaller and more slender forms, which may be an 

 earlier stage of the same, or perha])s are dermal spicules ; but beside 

 these may be seen upon the undisturbed surface of the sponge two 

 other forms — one, cylindrical, slender, with truncate ends, the other 

 similar in all respects to the long birotulates which surround the 

 statospheres. The last have most probably been displaced from 

 their normal position. 



The birotulate spicules surrounding the statospheres, us compared 

 with those of any other described sponges, and with the diameter of 

 their own rotules, are relatively very long. The diameter of the 

 complete statosphere is to that of the contained chitinous body 

 about as ten to seven ; and the diameter of the rotules, while per- 

 haps double that of the shalts, is only from one fifth to one seventh 

 of their length. A number of long sharp spines occur near each 

 extremity of the shaft. These birotulates are disposed, as is usual, 

 very regularly and densely upon the surface of the chitinous body — 



