56 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. { March, 1906. 
I have made a careful examination of living and preserved 
material, and I cannot find any specific difference between this. 
sponge and the widely-distributed Spongilia lacustris, which is not, 
however, usually regarded as a tropical form. It may be con- 
venient, for the sake of reference, to give the form a varietal 
name. 
Description of 8. lacustris var. bengalensis— 
A.=skeleton spicules. C. = flesh spicule. 
Length of skeleton spicule «. O83 mm.—O0°'4 mm. 
Length of flesh spicule ae % 
Length of gemmule spicule  ... 0-16 mm. 
; The most notable peculiarity of this variety is the total ab- 
sence of branches,! but in certain forms of the species the branches 
are better deyeloped than in others. J. lacustris is so variable 
1 Ledenfeld describes his 8. lacustris : th 
‘ z var. sphaerica, from New Sou 
tenga a8 ‘ hes Past ae sige oder eiforming,” (Zool. Jahrb. part 2, a 
: this i * tha 
belongs to the genus Spongil orm is doubtful; Weltner is not sure 
tla, no gemmules being available for examination, 
¥ 
