S4 ACCOUNT OF BRITISH SPONGES. 



7. Digiiata. With very slender dichotomous 



branches, digitated at their summit ; the sur- 

 face granulated. 



Plate vii. 



This very slender sponge is tough and flexible ; 

 neither the stem nor the branches are so large as a 

 medium straw, slightly compressed : the branches 

 are distant, and usually terminate in a cluster like 

 the foot of a bird \ these slender terminal divi- 

 sions, are from three to six in number. It is com- 

 pact in its texture, and when examined under a 

 microscope, appears granulated on the surface, as 

 if sprinkled with' fine sand : the base of the stem is 

 usually ferruginous, the rest of a pale yellow-brown. 



Taken in deep water by the trawl olf the coast 

 of Devon \ rare. 



8. Ramosa' Palmated and digitated round the top. 



Plate viii. 



This curious sponge is stiff, and somewhat elas- 

 tic \ the interior part is ligneous, striated longitu- 

 dinally, and which is always bare at the ends of 

 the ramifications, where it seems to be composed 

 of numerous fibres that frequently split and di- 

 vide into fascicles : the spongy or exterior part is 

 of a fine texture : colour pale yellow-brown. 



This singular species, which appears to be un- 

 described, I first noticed in Mr Boyer's cabinet of 

 British shells, chiefly found at Weymouth. I have 

 since taken a larger and more perfect specimen on 

 the coast of Devon, measuring nearly five inches 

 in height. 



