66 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. (January, 1913. 
leaf-green or dull grey, the former shade being due to the 
presence of intracellal corpuscles. There is no definite chitin- 
ous basal membra: 
eleton. = Tie! reticulation of the skeleton fibres is some- 
what loose in the basal part of the sponge, but traces of thick 
transverse and horizontal fibres can be detected. In the upper 
part it becomes more compact, a noteworthy feature being the 
fact that single transverse fibres often run obliquely for a con- 
siderable distance through the sponge; but the reticulation is 
nowhere of a regular character, although extremely massive 
at all points. On the surface the transverse network is close 
and the fibres stout, but vertical fibres do not project upwards 
through the dermal membrane in the form of spines 
Spicules. —The spicules closely resemble those of N. reversa 
but are longer and relatively more slender 
of C. barroisi, and I have little doubt that the patch sire 
a young sponge of the former species. The specimen was ta 
close to the spot at which two of N. aster were obtained. 
The best developed and largest of my specimens of this 
species, and also the only one (with the exception of the 
‘*green patch’’ just alluded to) that exhibited the colour 7 
chlorophyl, was the one taken off the exit of the Jordan. 
the river flows out of the lake obliquely, the specimen pbs. 
rently did not come from its actual channel, but from what 
may be regarded as the main area iad the lake. 
Although harder than N. reversa, N. aster is more friable 
than any other species of Poladilenaiins from the lake. Its 
‘smooth surface distinguishes it, if it be examined with a hand- 
lens, from either N. reversa or N. mappa. It is much harder 
than Ephydatia fluviatilis and differs from “Oorkivoonals 
barroisi, apart from other characters, in having no cent tral 
cavity or well-defined oscula, 
CORTISPONGILLA, gen. nov. 
Sponge hard, but not of stony hardness, more or less friable, 
with a well-developed branching central cavity from. which 
a large osculum opens directly. In large sponges several sys- 
