THE NEPTUNE'S CUP. 580 



violence, they often look as if they were only pointed at one end. They lie nearly parallel to 

 each other, and many are so placed that their points are presented outwards. This Sponge is 

 found in deep water in many parts of the European seas. 



We now come to the large genus Halichondria. 



The Funnel-sponge closely resembles an ordinary funnel. Its structure is very finely 

 porous, and it is rather a pretty and elegant species. The spicule which contain the softer 

 parts of the Funnel-sponge are long, slender, and sometimes curved. In most cases they 



■ are pointed at each end, but in others only one end is sharp, while the other is rounded, 

 so that the spicule resembles a needle without an eye. They are rather loose, and either lie 

 in bundles or crossing one another. The width of an ordinary specimen is about three inches, 

 and its length is equal to its width. 



The Ling-hood has a shape which, when it is young, reminds the observer of the pre- 

 ceding species. It may. however, be readily distinguished from that Sponge by the thick 

 coating of hair-like spines with which its surface is covered. It always becomes shallower by 

 age, and is therefore extremely variable in its form. The edge is seldom so smooth and 

 regular as that of the Funnel-sponge, being mostly cut into notches and the intervals devel- 

 oped into lobes. 



One remarkable characteristic of this species is the very brittle exterior, which can be 

 broken away by the fingers, and is found to consist almost wholly of flinty spicules, cemented 

 together by the glutinous substance of the animal. Sometimes it almost loses the cup-like 

 form, and spreads out like a fan, deriving therefrom the popular title of Sea-fan. As the 

 term, however, is applied to many other marine beings, it is not thought so useful as the 

 name which has already been mentioned. 



Many of the zoophytes, especially the sertularia and its kin, are very liable to the gentle 

 but irresistible attacks of this Sponge, which, settling upon them, increases rapidly and more 

 or less envelops them in its own mass. Its mode of growth is always variable. Sometimes it 



■ follows all the branches of the zoophyte on which it is parasitic, causing it to resemble a tree 

 thickly covered with ivy ; while at other times it spreads out so widely, that it gathers all 

 the branches together, covers them with its own substance, and forms them into a shapeless, 

 spongy mass, from which a few ends of the branches vaguely protrude. 



This Sponge does not, however, confine itself to zoophytes as resting-places, but settles 

 upon stones, sticks, shells, and other objects. Its color is generally grayish-white, but it 

 sometimes deepens its tint and becomes of a yellowish-brown. The texture of its substance is 

 always rather coarse, but its softness differs greatly according to the object on which it has 

 established itself and the locality in which it happens to be. The spicula? are always short, 

 rather curved, and are sharpened at one end and rounded at the other. About forty species of 

 the genus Halichondria are found in our seas, several of which are remarkable for having the 

 spiculae knobbed at both ends. 



The extraordinary object which is called by the appropriate name of Neptune's Cup is 

 one of the most magnificent, as well as one of the most notable, of the Sponge-tribe. It hardly 

 looks like a Sponge ; and when a specimen is shown to persons who have no knowledge of the 

 subject, they can hardly ever be made to believe that the exhibitor is not endeavoring to play 

 a practical joke upon them. 



The Neptune's Cup is of enormous dimensions, often measuring four feet in height and 

 having a corresponding width. Its exterior is rough, gnarled, and knotted like the bark of 

 some old tree ; and if a portion were removed from the side, it might almost be mistaken for a 

 piece of cork-tree bark. Many persons have imagined that the strangely-shaped object was 

 made of the skin of an elephant's leg, and I have even heard a teacher telling her pupils that 

 it was an old Roman wine-jar. 



It is hardly possible to disabuse strangers of the notion that it is not the result of human 

 ingenuity until they are allowed to lift it, and test personally its exceeding lightness. It is 

 hollow, and is not at all unlike an old font that by some misfortune has been deprived of its 

 base. Its capacity is enormous, and it would not only form a cup for Neptune, but even 



