THE ANNALS 
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[FIFTH SERIES.] 
No. 57. SEPTEMBER 1882. 
X VII.—Notes on Fossil Calcispongice, with Descriptions of new 
Species. By GEORGE JENNINGS Hinpe, Ph.D., F.G.S. 
[Plates X., XI., & XIT.] 
In the course of a recent examination of the fossil sponges 
in the British (Natural-History) Museum at South Kensing- 
ton, I devoted particular attention to those forms which have 
been grouped together by Prof. Zittel as a new family of cal- 
careous sponges under the term ‘ Pharetrones,” with the view 
of discovering, if possible, some fresh evidence which would 
serve to determine the validity or otherwise of this classifica- 
tion, which has been contested, more particularly in this 
country, by two eminent authorities on recent and _ fossil 
sponges—Messrs. Carter and Sollas. ‘To my good fortune, I 
succeeded beyond my anticipations in ascertaining some fresh 
facts respecting the spicular structure of several sponges of 
this family, which appear in my estimation to be of import- 
ance in deciding the question of their true character; and my 
purpose in this communication is to describe these new facts 
and discuss their bearing on the subject. 
The family of the Pharetrones, described by Zittel in his 
‘ Studien tiber fossile Spongien ’ (of which a translation by Mr. 
W.S. Dallas, F.L.S.,is containedin the third and fourth volumes 
of the ‘ Annals’ for 1879), embraces a very numerous group of 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. x. 13 
