CHAT. VII.] THE BEEP- SEA FAUNA. 423 



rind. He supposed that between this zoophyte and 

 the sponge at its base, there subsisted a relation of 

 guest and host, the zoophyte being constantly asso- 

 ciated with the sponge ; and in accordance with this 

 view he proposed for the reception of the zoophyte 

 a new group of alcyonarians under the name of 

 'Spongicolse,' as distinguished from the 'Sabulicolse' 

 (Pennatulce) and the ' Kupicolse ' (Gorgonice). 



Dr. Gray's view seemed in many respects a natural 

 one, and it was adopted in the main by Dr. Brandt 

 of St. Petersburg, who in 1859 published a long 

 memoir, describing a number of specimens brought 

 from Japan to Russia. Dr. Brandt referred what he 

 believed to be a zoophyte consisting of the coil and 

 the crust, to a special group of sclerobasic zoanth- 

 carians with a silicious axis. 



One consideration militated strongly against this 

 hypothesis of Dr. Gray and Professor Brandt. No 

 known zoophyte had a purely silicious axis; and 

 such an axis made up of loose separate spicules 

 seemed strangely inconsistent with the harmony of 

 the class. On the other hand, silicious spicules of 

 all forms and sizes were conceivable in sponges ; 

 and in 1857 Professor Milne-Edwards, on the 

 authority of Valenciennes, who was thoroughly 

 versed in the structure of the Gorgonice, combined 

 the sponge with the silicious rope, and degraded the 

 zoophyte to the rank of an encrusting parasite. 



Anything very strange coming from Japan is to 

 be regarded with some distrust. The Japanese are 

 wonderfully ingenious, and one favourite aim of 

 their misdirected industry is the fabrication of im- 

 possible monsters by the curious combination of the 



