FOSSIL FAUNA. 97 



PLATE XXXIX. 



Various Fossil Corals and Sponges, or Amorphozoa. 



Fig. 1. A coral from the Dudley limestone. {Fawsites?) 



Fig. 2, is a vertical section of figs. 4 and 5, to show the internal arrangement of the cells. 



Fig. 3. The under surface of a very common species {Fawsites Gotklandica, of Goldfuss); from the 

 Wenlock limestone of Dudley. A magnified view of part of the surface, to show 

 the honeycomb structure, is given in fig. 7. 



Fig. 4, the under, and fig. 5, the upper surface, of a small coral (Cydolites ?J from the Oolite. 



Fig. 6. A silicified branched sponge, {Spongites lobatus, of Dr. Fleming,) from the chalk of 

 Berkshire. 



Fig. 9, is a beautiful silicified, lobate, spongoid body, {Siphonia,) probably from the greensand. 

 Siliceous cruciform spicula obtained from this fossil are represented in fig. 8. 



Zoophytes of this kind, like many of the sponges, have their tissues strengthened by, and 

 largely composed of spicula, which vary in form and size in the different species and genera. 

 Many sponges and Siphoniae in flint, and in the chert of the greensand, consist almost entirely of 

 spicula, which may be easily detected by a slightly magnifying power. 



Fig. 10. Another common Dudley Coral. {Porites pyriformis, of Mr. Lonsdale.) 



Fig. 11. a beautiful coral {Explanaria flexuosa, of Dr. Fleming), from the Coral Rag of Steeple 

 Ashton, Wilts. The outline indicates the mode of increase, according to Mr. 

 Parkinson, of this form of zoophyte. 



Fig. 12. This is a portion of a delicate ramose sponge {Spongites ramosus, of Mantell), whose 

 remains are abundant in the chalk-flints, and have given rise to the irregularly 

 branched siliceous nodules. A specimen nine inches long, with seven branches, is 

 figured in Fossils of the South Downs, PL XV. fig. 11. Siliceous spicula are 

 thickly interspersed throughout the mass. 



