270 
Dr Grant on the Structure and 
could prove hurtful to them as to man, it is impossible to con- 
ceive that they would have stored it up in their ceils. 
The American author, whom I have just cited, regrets his 
not knowing what remedies should be employed in cases of poi- 
soning by honey. Of the three persons poisoned near the brook 
of St Anna, the least affected vomited after eating ; and, it was 
not until I had vomited myself, that I felt sensibly better. If 
one of the two herds mentioned by Seringe died, after having 
eaten honey sucked from Aconitum Napellus and Lycoctonum, 
he was the one who had not been able to vomit. It is there- 
fore very evident, that an emetic which should quickly rid the 
stomach of the cause of the evil would be the best remedy to 
which recourse could be had. 
Art. VIII. — On the Structure and Nature of the Spongilla 
friahilis . By Robert E. Grant, M. D., F. R. S. E., F. L. S., 
M. W. S., &c *. Communicated by the Author. 
HP 
I HE Spongilla friahilis of Lamarck, belongs to a genus of 
organized bodies, whose internal structure and economy are still 
unknown, and which naturalists are at present undecided whether 
to place in the animal or in the vegetable kingdom. It is a 
fresh water production, of a green or grey colour, soft, fibrous, 
reticulate, friable texture, irregular flat spreading form, and 
strong fetid odour ; it contains a turbid green-coloured gelati- 
nous-like matter in its interstices, and erect branched fibres pass 
through its interior, arising from its base, and projecting from 
its surface. Lamarck has distinguished this from the only other 
known species, Sp . pulvinata and Sp . ramosa , chiefly by the 
marked appearance of these erect or longitudinal fibres, which 
are seen in dried specimens, rising, branching, and radiating to- 
wards the surface, and beyond it. 
This animal or vegetable production is found spreading on 
rocks or other solid bodies, at the bottom of lakes, or on the 
sides of stagnant pools, and has been observed in various parts 
of Europe,— in Russia by Pallas, ? — in Denmark by Muller,— 
in Sweden by Linnoeus, — in Germany by Gmelin, Blumenbach, 
Read before the Wernerian Natural History Society. 
