S6 



ACCOUNT OF BRITISH SPONGES^ 



11. Perlevis, Form indeterminate, texture close, 

 surface covered with obtuse papillae. 



In texture, this sponge is somewhat similar 

 to tomenfosa ; is equally light, but not so soft 

 and crumbly, nor of so pale a colour ; when fresh 

 it is yellow, becoming of a light brown when dry : 

 on the surface are numerous obtuse papillae, the 

 eighth of an inch in length ; these are not tubu- 

 lar, but of the same texture as the rest of the 

 sponge ; some are clavated, others bifid or trifid, 

 and compressed ; sometimes a few moderate sized 

 pores are scattered over the surface, very visible 

 to the naked eye, being as large as if made by a 

 common pin. 



A specimen of about two inches long and an 

 inch broad, taken on the coast of Devon, ap- 

 pears to have been attached to a rock its whole 

 length. 



12. Aurea, Broad, flat, and slightly divided at 

 the top. 



Two or three inches broad, and nearly two 

 inches high, of an orange-yellow when fresh, fad- 

 ing to brown when dry. Sometimes its slight, di- 

 visions are tubular, but this is of rare occurrence. 

 It is not so much divided as Spongia prolijtra of 

 Ellis, or might be thought a variety ; but in this, 

 the base is always broad and compact, and the 

 summit is more ragged than branched ^ it con- 



