108 My. H. J. Carter on new Sponges. 
Paraspongia, only differs from the first group in presenting a 
larger and more evident quantity, which, of course, deterio- 
rates the quality of the sponge. So scanty is the sand-thread 
in the officinal sponges that, in preparing them for the market, 
the little tags on the surface containing it are frequently 
washed off, when it becomes difficult to find their continuation 
internally ; and thus its existence may be doubted. How- 
ever, it 1s always present in the fresh specimen, which has 
been preserved in spirit from the commencement. The der- 
mal sarcode on Huspongia compacta is colourless, not black or 
purple, as it is on the officinal sponges, which accounts for 
Aristotle’s observation, made on the latter circa 330 B.c.! 
viz. :— When alive, before they are washed, they are black ” 
(Hist. of Animals, B. v. chap. xiv. p. 119, Engl. transl. 
Richard Cresswell, M.A., Bohn, 1862). 
Fam. 2. Hircinida. 
Group 4. CALLHISTIA. 
Taonura*® flabelliformis, n. sp. 
Fan-shaped, thick, stipitate, more convex on one side than 
the other (such as a cast of the interior of a clam-shell would 
be), thinning out to the circumference, which is circular, with 
an obtuse margin. Consistence soft, resilient. Colour yellow- 
amber. Stem short, thick, hard, gnarly, sometimes branched 
and naked for a short distance before the flabellate expansion 
begins. Surface rendered more or less smooth, probably by 
the dermal sarcode, when fresh; now largely regular by a 
succession of depressions, becoming smaller and more numerous 
towards the circumference, presenting the appearance of imbri- 
cation, probably caused by the once projection of the feathered 
ends of the subdivided branches. Vents large, arranged 
linearly along the margin, Pandean-pipe-like. General struc- 
ture radiating, so that when held up to the light the lines may 
be observed to extend from the stem to the circumference, 
where they are found to mark the intervals between the main 
canals of the excretory system, which take the same direction 
and end in the vents there. Minute structure fibrous, reti- 
culated, forming a soft fine keratine tissue, in which the ver- 
tical fibre is axiated with foreign bodies and the lateral branches 
simple. Size of specimen about 1 foot broad by 6 inches 
high and 13 inch thick near the base ; sometimes longer than 
broad. 
* ras, peacock, ovpa, tail. 
