llO ACCOUNT OF BRITISH SPONGES. 



SO. Canctllata ^. With reticulated fibres, the' 

 inosculations tuberous, and furnished with 

 a pore. 



Spongia cancellata. Br. Miscel. p. 131. t. 60. 



The ingenious author of the work referred to^ 

 has presented us with a new, and from the figure 

 we may conclude, a very small species of spongCo 

 This cancellated sponge appears to have large in- 

 terstices between the fibres, and we are told the 

 fibres themselves when magnified, are also can- 

 cellated, and have a horny appearance. 



The colour is yellowish ; and we are informed 

 that it was found at Brighton in Sussex. 



Mr Sowerby remarks, that the kneed appear- 

 ance, and the swelling at the bend of the kneCj 

 with the inverted conical aperture, give an as- 

 surance that Spongia is more or less the habita- 

 tion pr nidus of some animal. This is not ex- 

 actly consonant with my ideas on the subject. 

 If the sponge here described could be discovered 

 to be the habitation of polypi or other aggregate 

 or independent vermes, acting by common con- 

 sent, it would constitute an animal substance dif- 

 fering from that of spongia. The pore, and the 

 tumidity of the fibres at the points of union, are 

 singular specific characters \ the former I have 



* Not Spongia cancellata of Gmelin. 



