Dr. R. V. Lendenfeld on Australian Sponges. 21 



publications on the subject hy Carter, through the courtesy 

 of the author. 



There are, in the part concerning the Ceraospongige and 

 Myxospongise, no figures, and the diagnoses are so short that 

 it is, in by far the greater number of species, impossible for 

 me to identify them with those in my collection, or to ascer- 

 tain those characteristics which I consider as the most im- 

 portant. 



There are a few, however, which, in consequence of some 

 accessory peculiarity or other, I have been able to recognize. 

 My collection of several thousand specimens of Australian 

 Sponges is by far the finest as yet brought together from any 

 one locality, and I think that not only Carter, but also all 

 other scientists who are working at the Sponges, will be 

 interested in the result of a comparison between Carter's 

 diagnoses and the specimens in my collection. 



Halisarca ausirah'ensis* is not a sponge at all, but the 

 crusts described by Carter under the above name are the ova 

 of Boltenias surrounded by their folliculi. I myself believed 

 that the slimy coatings in question were perhaps sponges, 

 and I examined them accordingly. The results of this exami- 

 nation are laid down in a paper published by me last yearf. 



The Boltenia is probably Boltenia australis. The name 

 Boltenia australiensis given by Carter^ is not warranted. 



Chondrilla imcula, O. S., is mentioned as occurring in 

 Port Phillip §. I have not found any specimens of this 

 sponge on any part of the Australian coast. I have, however, 

 described a species of Chondrilla as O. secunda, n. sp., from 

 Port Phillip, in a paper read some time ago before the Lin- 

 nean Society of N. S. W. Ji, which is somewhat different 

 from G. uncula, O. S., in the shape of its spicules and parti- 

 cularly the configuration of the canal-system, but which out- 

 wardly appears very similar to the Adriatic species, of which 

 I brought a specimen with me. I think it very probable that 

 Carter's specimen is to be referred to my Chondrilla secunda, 

 a sponge very abundant in Port Phillip. 



* H. J- Carter, "Description of Sponges from the Neighbourhood of 

 Port Phillip Heads, South Australia," Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 5, 

 vol. XV. p. 197. 



t R. V. Lendenfeld, " On the Slimy Coatings of certain Boltenias in 

 Port Jackson," Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. vol. is., p. 495. 



X H. J. Carter, /. c. p. 197. 



§ H. J. Carter, Z. c. p. 200. 



II R. V. Lendenfeld, " A Monograph of the Australian Sponges," Ab- 

 stracts of Proc. Linn. Soc. for January 1885. 



