ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 1013 



sentatives of the new genus Phoriospongta, whicli is characterized as 

 sponges containing a large amount of foreign particles, sand, &c., and 

 also possessing siliceous spicules of the monactinellid type. Marshall 

 was inclined to consider all these sponges, described by himself and 

 others, as boring sponges, which, however, do not live in rocks or 

 shells as the true Vioa, but which live in sand. They perforate the 

 sand in all directions, and so produce a mass similar to a sponge, and 

 containing both the spicule of the sponge and the sand in which the 

 sponge took up its abode. 



Dr. Lendenfeld, however, considers the two sponges (as well as 

 others which he found) as Ceraospongise, belonging to the group with 

 arenaceous irregular fibres. There are many Australian sponges with 

 a skeleton consisting of arenaceous fibres forming an irregular net- 

 work, thus connecting the Phoriospongise with the ordinary horny 

 sponges. 



The author discusses the hypothesis put forward by Vosmaer,* 

 that the horny sponges are the descendants of the siliceous Monac- 

 tinellida, and upholds his previous view,| deriving the latter from 

 the former. 



Sponges of the 'Willem Barents' Expedition. J — Dr. G. C. J. 



Vosmaer describes and enumerates the thirty-eight sponges collected 

 by the ' Willem Barents ' Arctic expedition in 1880 and 1881. They 

 were not, unfortunately, so well preserved as to enable the writer to 

 make many anatomical or histological observations ; at the same time 

 the carefully prepared plates offer numerous points of interest. 

 Weherella bursa is the representative of a new genus, in which the 

 connective tissue is highly developed, and so makes the sponge com- 

 pact and resistent. Another new genus is Artemisina (A. suberitoides 

 n. sp.), which has much of the appearance of a Suberites, but possesses 

 the anchors which are characteristic of the Desmacidinse. The author 

 makes use of the stenographic system of describing the spicules which 

 he has done so much to bring into use, and the whole essay is 

 characterized by a desire to add to our knowledge of incompletely 

 known forms, and to refrain as much as possible from the establish- 

 ment of new genera or species. 



New Sponges from South Australia.§— Dr. R. v. Lendenfeld in 

 reference to Mr. H. J. Carter's description of sponges from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Port Phillip Heads, S. Australia,! contends that Halisarca 

 australiensis is not a sponge at all, but that the crusts described 

 are the ova of Boltenias surrounded by their follicula.lf The rest of 

 the paper is mainly a criticism on the new species established by 

 Carter, many of which are claimed to be identical with previously 

 recognized forms. Of the new genera, Holopsamma is the same as 

 Marshall's Psammapemma, and Sarcocornea not properly established. 



* See this Journal, ante, p. 75. t IWd-, iv. (1884) p. 394. 



I Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde, xii. (1885) 47 pp. (5 pis.). 

 § Proc. Linn. Soc. N.8. Wales, x. (ISSiS) pp. 151-6. 



II See thiH Journal, nnfe, p. 465. ^ Ibid., p. 23.3. 

 Ser. 2.— Vol. V. 3 u 



