HALICHONDRIA. 135 



siderable size and thickness, with a very uneven or ragged sur- 

 face. WTien dried these . specimens are hard and unyielding, 

 and have indeed some resemblance to the dried root of British 

 rhubarb. By attention to their colour, for a tinge of their pris- 

 tine red always remains, and to the size and shape of the spi- 

 cula, we can in general refer these abnormal specimens to their 

 true species. 



* * * Texture very compact, not fibrous nor friable when 

 dry. — " Durse sunt hae, ideoque a Spongianun bonitate 

 degenerant." The species, in general, have been referred 

 to the genus Alcyonium, Lin. 



28. H. coALiTA, branched inan irregular distorted manner, 

 the branches diffuse, inosculating ; texture compact, brittle ; 

 fecal orifices small or none ; spicula various in size, fusi- 

 form, more or less curved. 



Plate XII. Fig. 1. 



Spongia coalita, Mull. Zool. Dan. prod. 256. Zool. Dan. iii. 71, 

 tab. 120. Turt. Gmel. iv. 662. Montagu in Wern. Mem. ii. 

 80. Bosc, Vers, iii. 177. Lam. Anim. s. Vert. ii. 382. 2de 

 editii. 572. Lamour. Cor. Flex. 80. Corall. 18-4. Parkins. 

 Oryctol. 47. Grant in Edin. Phil. Journ. xiv. 118; and in 

 Edin. New Pbil. Journ ii. 123. 



Tupha coalita, Gray, Brit. PI. i. 355. 



Halichondria coalita, Flem. Br. Anim. 522. Bellamy's South De- 

 von, 268. 



L'Haleponge coalescente, Blainv. Actinol. 532. 



Spongia suberosa, Esper, Spong. tab. 41. 



Hab. " Grows on dead shells, or invests corallines, beyond 

 low-water mark," Fleming. Coast of Devon, rare, Montagu. 

 Frith of Forth, very common on the oyster-beds, Dr Grant. 

 Inhabits deep water, and is washed ashore in abundance after 

 storms, Dr Coldstream. 



