85 



TAB. XLII. 



SPONGIA compacta. 

 Compact Tubular Sponge. 



Class 6. Vermes. Order 4. Zoophyta. 



Gen. Char, minimal fixed, flexile, torpid, of vari- 

 ous forms, composed either of reticulate fibres, 

 or masses of small spines interwoven together, 

 and clothed with a gelatinous flesh full of small 

 mouths on its surface, by which it absorbs and 

 rejects water. 



Spec. Char. Tubular, ramose, composed of spi- 

 culse crossing one another, very compact and 

 brittle. 



We suspect this has been much confounded with Spongia 

 tomentosa {urens of Ellis) : we however think it at first 

 sight sufficiently different. It appears more like the habi- 

 tation of an insect with more or less ovate tubular termina- 

 tions. It is much tougher and more cottony in its texture, 

 has sometimes a smoothish covering towards the mouth of 

 the apertures, which occasionally passes into extreme fine 

 reticulations, over the coarser reticulations on the surface. 

 We have found it in great plenty at Shellness, and other 

 parts of Sheppey Island, at different seasons; and we 



