BihUographical Notices. 295 



are composed, and the sheath of fleshy matter or corium with 

 which each is surrounded. The existence of this sheath, which 

 is of the same structure and substance as the inner layer of the 

 bark, I have always regarded as a proof that the spicules were 

 formed by the community of Palythoce that compose the bark 

 or corium. 



The long free filamentous spicules of the Eiqjlectella^ which 

 are regarded by Dr. Max Schultze and Prof.Wyville Thomson 

 as most resembling in form the spicules of the axis of the Hya- 

 lonenia^ have an acute simple tip, or have the tip armed with 

 three or more recurved hooks, as figured by Bowerbank. It 

 is curious how Dr. Max Schultze, who has figured the pecu- 

 liar structure of the spicules of Hyalonema^ and must have 

 seen the spicules of the Eujplectella furnished with hooks, 

 could have thought of uniting the two genera into a group, 

 which he called LopMospongice ; for nothing can be more dis- 

 tinct than the structure, form, and use of the spicules of these 

 two genera belonging to orders of animals of such different 

 degrees of organization. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Coleojotera Hesperidum, being an enumeration of the Coleopterous In- 

 sects of the Cape Verde Archipelago. By T. Vernon Wollaston", 

 M.A., F.L.S. 8vo. London : Van Voorst, 1867. 

 How far Mr. Wollaston is warranted in applying the term Hes- 

 perides to the southernmost cluster of the North Atlantic islands 

 is a question which we must leave to the classical student for deci- 

 sion ; perhaps they have as good a right to the title as any others. 

 But to the entomologist, since the publication of the book whose 

 title is given above, the Hesperides will most certainly be identified 

 with the Cape Verde Islands, seeing that Mr. "Wollaston's visit to 

 them has enabled him to present his brother entomologists with a 

 treasure of higher value than any amount of golden apples ever 

 guarded by the most terrible of dragons. 



The materials for the ' Coleoptera Hesperidum ' have been chiefly 

 collected by Mr. "Wollaston himself, during a visit to the little 

 archipelago in Mr. Gray's yacht. Mr. Gray, Mr. Hamlet Clark, and 

 Mr. Lowe had also previously landed on some of the islands; and 

 Mr. "Wollaston acknowledges the receipt of specimens from some 

 other gentlemen ; but the arid natiu-e of the group, in some of the 

 islands of which rain scarcely ever falls, renders the most careful 

 working unproductive, and accordingly the whole number of species 

 obtained from aU sources amounts only to 278. This number might 

 perhaps be shghtly increased by an investigation of the three eastern 

 islands of the group, which Mr. "Wollaston did not visit ; but the very 

 name of " Salt Islands " applied to these seems to indicate that pro- 



