104 
LANUGONYCHIA FLABELLUM. 
lamella about 60 mm. long, 40 mm. broad, and 1 mm. thick, from the sharpest 
angle of which arises a uniformly curved stalk about 90 mm. long and 2-3 mm. 
thick. Whether the complete sponge, of which the specimen formed a part, 
was also fan-shaped, is hard to say. It may have been calyculate or even tubu- 
lar, but it certainly' was thin-walled and stalked. 
The colour in spirit is rather dark reddish brown. 
General structure. The lamellar body is reticulate in structure (Plate 13 , 
fig. 14), composed of a network of bands, mostly 0.2-0. 5 mm. thick, which enclose 
round meshes, 1 mm. wide. These meshes are partly covered by remnants of 
superficial membranes. 
The skeleton of the stalk (Plate 13 , fig. 7) consists chiefly of longitudinal 
beams 20-90 m thick (usually 40-80 m)> about equally far apart, and joined at 
frequent intervals by short transverse bars. The latter are thickened, and 
trumpet-shaped at the base. The meshes of the whole ladder-like network 
formed by the beams and bars are rounded, usually oval, 35-210 ^ long and 25- 
90 m broad. Most of the longitudinal beams are rhabds; some appear to be 
elongated rays of pentactines and hexactines. 
The interior of the lamellar body is occupied by rhabds and great numbers 
of onychhexasters, and large and small regular discohexasters. Plumicomes 
and a few irregular discohexasters with primary and secondary end-rays have 
also been found in it. Besides these spicules several large amphiasters have been 
observed. These are, however, most likely foreign to the sponge. Very proba- 
bly small hexactines also occur in the choanosome. I am not, however, certain 
about these spicules; the ones observed may in truth have been gastral or dermal 
and brought down into the choanosome accidentally. Below the surface pentac- 
tines are met. The superficial (dermal and gastral) skeleton consists of hexac- 
tines and pentactine to monactine hexactine-derivates with only five to one 
properly developed and one to five reduced rays, which latter appear as short, 
terminally rounded protuberances of the centre of the spicule. The tetractine 
forms are stauractines ; the diactine forms are mostly centro tyle amphioxes; a 
few of them appear compass-shaped. On one side of the lamella true hexactines, 
with all six rays fully developed, greatly predominate, spicules with only five or 
four fully developed rays (pentactines and stauractines) being rare, and spicules 
with only three or still fewer (triactines to monactines) absent altogether. On 
the other side of the lamella hexactine-derivates with fewer than six fully 
developed rays are more frequent than true hexactines and here also triactine to 
monactine forms with only from three to one fully developed rays are frequently 
