278 Mr. H. J. Carter on 



by the statement that Dr. Grant, in his ' Tabular View of the 

 Animal Kingdom' (1861, p. 76), had established the genus 

 "Chalina " for sponges possessing the structure of Johnston's 

 Halicliondria oculata (Mon. vol. i. p. 209) ; so this is how we 

 came by the term '"'' Ghalinar 



But Johnston had previously identified his, foregoing species, 

 viz. Halichondria palmata [p^J. cit. p. 92, pi. ii. fig. 1), with 

 Esper's Spongia oculata, "tab. i.," and also with Ellis's Spongia 

 palmata (Ellis & Solander, p. 189, pi. Iviii. fig. 6). Now all 

 three of their illustrations represent the oscules as projecting 

 (pustuliform) and scattered over the frond ; while in Grant's 

 illustration of Spongia oculata (Edinb. New Phil. Journ. 1826, 

 vol. ii. p. 140, pi. ii. fig. 22), as well as in Johnston's Hali- 

 cliondria oculata^ they are, as Johnston stated, " mostly 

 disposed along the margin/' that is on opposite sides of the 

 cylindrical branch {op. cit. p. 95), which was probably the 

 case in Esper's Spongia polychotoma (tab. xxxvi.), as they 

 are not represented on the surface of the branches of his illus- 

 tration. Hence it is evident that Esper's Spongia oculata, so 

 far as appearance goes, is Johnston's Halichondria palmata. 



But the latter is also stated by Johnston to be the " Mer- 

 maid's Glove " of the Shetlanders, which Bowerbank calls 

 '"'•Isodictya palmata " (Mon. vol. ii. p. 311, and vol. iii. 

 pi. Hi.), adding very properly to the simple skeletal acerate of 

 this sponge in his illustration an equianchorate, which, on 

 microscopic examination, I find to be so peculiar in shape, 

 that the " flesh-spicule " in this instance becomes a distin- 

 guishing character, whereby I have been enabled to identify 

 it with Johnston's type specimen of his Halicliondria palmata 

 in the British Museum *. Hence also Esper's Spongia oculata 

 and Ellis's Spongia palmata, if they possessed this distin- 

 guishing character, become Dr. Bowerbank's ^^Isodictya pal- 

 mata.'''' 



Be this as it may, however^ the structure and skeletal 

 spicule of Johnston's type specimen of Halichondria palmata 

 are so like those of Chalina polychotoma that I have not hesi- 

 tated, in opposition to Dr. Bowerbank's view, to change his 

 generic term '■'■ Halichondria''^ to Chalina palmata, as may be 

 seen by my description and illustration of the latter in the 

 ' Annals ' of 1882 (vol. x. p. 109, woodcut, fig. 1), where I 

 have fully gone into the subject, therefore need not repeat 

 any more of it here. 



Why Johnston should have designated his sponge "ociJata" 

 after having identified it with Esper's ^''polychotoma'''' I am 



* Schmidt's only instance of this is in the ^?^equiauchorate of his Espe- 

 ria sentinella (Spong. Kiiste v. Algier, p. 30, Taf. v. fig. ] 1). 



