SPONGES. 303 



























varying much in size, and found almost everywhere in moist 
situations. “In the manufacture of the handsome Tunbridge 
ware, a variety of wood is employed under the name of 
green oak. Although of a mineral green color, this is the 
ordinary British oak; but the alteration which it has under- 
gone is due to the presence of a fungus. A handsome little 
species resembling a Pezizia traverses with its mycelium the 
whole fabric of such wood, and these minute threads give the 
green tint to the timber.” Similar tinted but decayed sticks 
and pieces of timber may be found in our own woods, owing 
doubtless to a similar cause. | 
In conclusion, it is to be hoped that the coming season 
may be seized upon for collecting, delineating, and coloring 
from living specimens some of the many fine and curious 
species of this vicinity ; and that our naturalists may insti- 
tute experiments, aidéd by the chemist and the gastronomer, 
ven line of wholesome, novel, and dainty tidbits of the 
e. 

‘SPONGES. 
BY A. HYATT. 
Avone the dark-brown leaves and green filaments which 
ate borne upon the edge of the incoming tide, one frequently 
observes a substance hardly distinguishable from the sur- 
rounding plants, except for its light-brown color and porosity. 
This is sometimes dendritic,* with lank branches springing 
from broad, thick-spreading bases ; but generally it is broken 
into fragments, and only the palm-like parts, with their finger- 
aped ends, are left grasping among the froth-covered 
“weeds. A slight pressure will expel the water, and the 
— of the half-dried specimen will at once arrest atten- 

It is in fact a Sponge, differing only in the details of its ` 
O ORG MERETE 0 SO 
* Branching like a tree. 
