ASTROSCLERA. 733 



twenty-five francs. Near the end of January, 1897, we had a visitation of wind, probably 

 the trail of a_ hurricane, which played havoc with my baskets, and cost the lives of 

 some sixteen Nautili. Shortly afterwards I lost another " thingit " containing six pairs of 

 Nautili in forty fathoms, and on March 8 left Lifu in a small schooner, bound for 

 Noumea, calling at Uvea on the way. 



Apart from Nautilus I obtained many valuable accessions to my general collection 

 at Lifu. A large proportion of Sandal Bay is flanked by terraced limestone cliffs from 

 seventy to a hundred feet in height. The base is excavated by the sea, as in the case 

 of the mushroom-shaped islets which I have previously mentioned, and halfway up the 

 face of the cliff there is an exactly similar excavation. From the base of the cliff the 

 water deepens rather rapidly to about forty fathoms, and then there is a sudden drop, 

 showing the existence of a remarkable submarine ledge of dead, shaly rock. I dragged 

 along this forty fathom ledge with a grapnel in the hope of recovering one of my 

 " thingits," which had disappeared, and it was here that I found some peculiar calcareous 

 growths which I preserved, although I had no inkling of what their true nature might 

 be, suspecting them rather to be Foraminifera. In Mr J. J. Lister's hands they have 

 proved to represent a very interesting form of calcareous sponge, Astrosclera, offering 

 a curious superficial resemblance to the mesozoic Pharetrones 1 . 



I also described a curious flatworm 2 from Lifu under the name of Heteroplana, 

 but the generic properties which I ascribed to it are open to another interpretation. 

 The shape of the body was peculiar, symmetrical in front, not quite symmetrical behind, 

 unlike anything else I had seen. 



Examination with lens and microscope in the living state revealed the fact that 

 the organs of the left side, principally the intestinal diverticula, were suppressed. I found 

 the worm in a hole on the lower side of a coral block 3 and on account of its large 

 size, semi-opaque orange colour, characteristic shape and other peculiarities, gave it the 

 above name. It has been suggested that Heteroplana is a phase in the regeneration 

 of a mutilated Polyclade worm. If this be so I cannot account for its very definite 

 external form, but at any rate the genus must remain in abeyance until more light is 

 thrown upon this subject 4 . 



The population of Lifu, like that of the other Loyalty Islands, is now entirely 

 Christian, being divided between the Catholic and Protestant communions. The two great 

 hereditary chiefs of the island, Ukenesoe and Bula, who formerly waged incessant warfare 

 with each other, are now the respective champions of the rival creeds. The social 

 organisation is somewhat communistic so far as this is compatible with the existence 

 of chiefs, and it sometimes happens that even such valuable property as a horse is 

 readily yielded up to the first importunate acquaintance who casts envious eyes upon it. 

 But of course a return present will be exacted sooner or later. If I gave something 

 of value, tackle, food or money, to my man, it was quite a chance if I did not find it 

 shortly in the possession of somebody else in whom I had no particular interest. 



1 See Appendix. 



2 I collected a number of Polyclade worms which I have sent to Prof. A. Lang at Zurich. For notes 

 on oviposition of Polyclades cf. Willey, A., "Letters from New Guinea," Quart. J. Micr. Sc, Vol. xxxix. 



3 Repeated and laborious search failed to elicit any more specimens. 



4 Cf. C. Rina Monti, "La rigenerazione nelle Planarie marine." Mem. 1st. Lombardo, xix. 1900. 



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