SSS Dr Grant’s Observations on the Structure 
Ij destitute of nerves, and muscular system, and polypi, and 
every kind of spontaneous motion, (Blum. Nat. Hist. 1825). 
This singular discordance of opinion among eminent naturalists 
of the present day, shows how little is yet known of the living 
organization and functions of this zoophyte, and the interesting 
field of discovery which lies open to those who love nature, and 
frequent the shores of the ocean. 
In all the sponges I have met with alive, a distinct, soft, 
transparent matter, can he observed between the fibres ; in some 
species, as the S. panicea , this matter is abundant and ropy ; in 
others, as the S. papillaris and coalita , it is much thinner ; and 
in others, as the compressa and oculata , it is found in smaller 
quantity. Probably no organized body can exist without simi- 
lar soft parts. The fibrous part being always insoluble in wa- 
ter, can easily be procured separate from the soft matter, by im- 
mersing it repeatedly in hot water ; it forms a net- work through 
every part of the body, and constitutes the aocis or skeleton of 
this zoophyte, serving, as in other animals, to give form to the 
body, and support and protection to the softer organs. The 
axis is the part employed in the arts, or preserved in the cabi- 
nets of naturalists ; it is the part of the animal which remains in 
a fossil state in the earth, as in the numerous fossil species found 
near Caen in France, ( Lamx. Exp. Meth.) ; and it is that from 
which Aristotle and his successors have constantly taken the 
characters of the species. The structure of this part, or indeed 
of any other part of the sponge, cannot be observed without the 
assistance of the microscope ; and it is well known that most 
zoophytes were regarded as plants, till the microscope reformed 
this part of science. But the minutest microscopical examina- 
tion of the dried skeleton will not suffice alone to explain the 
living functions, or establish the nature of this animal. La- 
marck, however, appears to have been misled by dried speci- 
mens or plates, or by preconceived hypothesis, in placing among 
the species of alcyonium the Spongia cristate, S. tomentosa or 
urens , S. panicea , and S. palmate of Ellis, which are common 
and well marked sponges, inhabiting our own coasts ; and the 
Spongia clavata of Esper, which he has ranked as a variety of 
the Alcyonium distortum , has been lately shown by Schweigger 
