381 
Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology. 
subject of teas, it may be interesting to observe, that the com- 
mon black Chinese Teas consist chiefly of the old leaves of the 
The a viridis , mixed with those of the Camellia Sasanqua or 
oleifera , and sometimes fragments of the leaves of the Olea 
Jragrans ; and that the finest teas, whether green or black, 
appear to be produced by the Thea Bohea s the quality and co- 
lour depending solely on the age of the leaves, and the mode of 
preparing them. Although I have long attended to the subject, 
I have never been able to detect, in those teas said to be adul- 
terated, either willow or sloe leaves, or any thing else of British 
growth. It is probable that the leaves of the species of Camel- 
lia before mentioned may have been taken for sloe leaves. — D. D. 
ZOOLOGY. 
23. Dr Grant on the Ova of the Sponge . — Dr Grant lately 
read before the Wernerian Society, a continuation of his in- 
teresting investigation on the natural history of the Sponge. 
A part of the memoir is given in the present number ; and, 
in the mean time, the following additional facts stated to 
the Society by Dr Grant will be acceptable to our zoological 
readers. — “ When we cut a thin piece off the surface of a 
living sponge, and look down through one of its pores with 
the reflecting microscope, we perceive, immediately beneath 
the projecting spicula which defend the pore, a very delicate 
net- work of gelatinous threads thrown over the entrance of 
the tube. This piece of structure is so fine, as to be perfect- 
ly invisible to the naked eye ; it consists of five or six threads, 
which pass in from the sides of the tube to be connected with a 
central mesh, so that there are six or seven meshes thus formed ; 
and while this soft apparatus is beautifully defended by the pro- 
tecting spicula of the pore, it serves still farther to guard the 
interior of the animal from the smallest particles of sand, or the 
minutest visible animalcules. Along the whole interior of the 
pores and tubes, there is a thin gelatinous matter enveloping 
every fibre, and filling all the interstices between the fasciculi. 
This gelatinous matter is transparent and colourless, and so lit- 
tle consistent, that it runs down like the white of an egg when 
the sponge is first torn from the rock, and suspended between 
the fingers ; the microscope detects no trace of organization in 
it ; by filling up the inequalities of the sides of the tubes, it 
VOL. XIII. >50. 26. OCTOBER 1825. c c 
