XVII. SP0NG1JE. 
4 Spong. 
III. Under the heading of Geographical Distribution the most im- 
portant memoirs are those of Arnesen (3) upon the Halichondrina of 
Norway, of Kirkpatrick (25 & 26) upon South African Sponges, and 
of Baar (4), Preiwisch (39), and Thiele (50) upon Sponges from the 
Pacific. There are no extensive palaeontological monographs to record, 
but Po6ta (35-38), Nelli (34), and Bistram (5), describe some new 
fossil sponges. 
IY. The contributions to the systematic study of sponges are more 
important than those under other sections of the Record, and scarcely fall 
below the standard of the previous year. Ij ima (22) continues his important 
studies on Japanese Hexactinellids ; Kirkpatrick (25 & 26) describes 
new Lithistida and Monaxonida from South Africa ; Thiele (51) revises 
the nomenclature of some of the Monaxonida ; and Lendenfeld (27) is 
the author of the first number of Das Tierreich which deals with a group 
of sponges, the Tetraxonia. The last-named work revises the nomenclature 
of the genera and species in the most approved modern fashion, with the 
usual result of introducing numerous changes likely to lead to great 
confusion. Thus the well-known generic name Tethya is applied to the 
genus of Tetractinellid sponges hitherto known as Craniella (type C. 
craniuw). It is not apparent what the familiar Monaxonid genus, uni- 
versally referred to as Tethya , is now to be called. Professor Lendenfeld is 
evidently no longer in the frame of mind which led him formerly to 
characterize such changes of nomenclature as “ eine lacherliche Namen- 
prioritats-Reiterei.” 
The existence of the problematic Gastreadse of Haeckel is denied by 
Carazzi (6), but affirmed by Leon (29), who professes to have found a 
specimen of Prophysema on the Norwegian Coast. 
The following table is a summary of the new genera, etc., recorded 
below. 
New 
genera 
New New 
species varieties 
Calcarea ... 
Hexactinellida . . . 
Demospongiae 
2 
2 
8 
7 1 
(1) Tetraxonida ... 
(2) Monaxonida ... 
(3) Keratosa 
Incertse Sedis 
6 
18 
2 
52 
3 
1 
4 
1 
13 
• 90 
4 
Total 
