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Show 1867.] DR. j. E. G R A Y O N S P O N G E S . 529 to say, in those that have an irregular edge to the upper part of the tube, or other deformities of growth. Euplectella, Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. iii. p. 203, 1841. Alcyoncellum, Bowerb. B. Sp. i. p. 176 (not Blainville, nor Quoy and Gaimard). The texture of Euplectella has been compared to woven lace. The threads of the Euplectella were not first spun and then interwoven as in the case of human manufacture, but were formed as interwoven, the two processes going on simultaneously, or pari passu; and this is further shown by the fact that, in a specimen that had been pierced, the hole is filled up with interwoven fibres like a darn. It is to be recollected that the beautiful object which we have in our cabinet is but the skeleton of the sponge; and in its living state this exquisite flinty framework is veiled by a delicate gelatinous enveloping organic tissue (see Owen, Trans. Linn. Soc. xxii. p. 121). 1. EUPLECTELLA ASPERGILLUM, Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. iii. p. 203, t. 13 (upside down). B.M. Euplectella speciosa, Gray, Ann. & Mag. N . H. 1866, xviii. p. 487. Alcyoncellum aspergillum, Bowerb. B. S. i. p. 177, f. 174, 175, to p. 184, f. 186, 189, 193, 194, 198, 253, 356, 357. Hab. Philippine Islands (Cuming). This species is liable to several variations ; its form is sometimes short, ovate, and straight like the following ; the regular longitudinal and transverse bundles of spicules are distinctly marked, indeed more so in the young specimens only a few inches long than in the adult. There is a good series of varieties of different ages in the British Museum. 2. EUPLECTELLA CUCUMER, Owen,Trans. Linn. Soc. xxii. p. 117, t. 21 ; Bowerb. B. S. i. p. 237. f. 59. Hab. Seychelle Islands (Capt. Etheridge). Only known from the single specimen in the collection of Dr. Farre. The absence of the fringe and the small size of the transverse ridges may be dependent on the age or imperfect development of the specimen, for that is the peculiarity of the younger specimen from the Philippines. I have not seen the specimen; but Dr. Bowerbank, who has examined it and its spicules, informs me that he regards it as only a variety of E. aspergillum ; but the difference in the locality and the peculiar form leads me to believe that it is a distinct species; and I hope Dr. Perceval Wright, who has gone to the Seychelles to study the natural.history of those little-known islands, will bring home specimens that may determine this and other interesting zoological questions. PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1867, No. XXXIV. |