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Show 1905.] ON THE SPONGE OLATHRINA CONTORTA. 3 not prolong or retain youthful characters of the antlers, but, quite the contrary, caused them to grow irregularly or had the effect of entire suppression of the antler. He stated that very frequently an aged Stag or Fallow buck would throw up supernumerary snags at the base of the antler (text-fig. 1, E) or along the side of the beam, which somewhat resembled, and were probably a reversion to, these immature characters, and that there were several records of aged or barren hinds growing the simple " pricket " antlers of the first year. Mr. R. I. Pocock, F.Z.S., exhibited and made remarks on a specimen of the Spanish Tarantula, Lycosa hispanica, that had died in the Society's Gardens. On behalf of Mr. R. 0. Punnett, F.Z.S., and himself, Mr. W. Bateson, F.R.S., F.Z.S., exhibited specimens of Fowls illustrating peculiarities in the heredity of white plumage, and made the following remarks:- A pure white breed such as White Leghorn, crossed with a dark breed such as Brown Leghorn, gives a cross-breed substantially white, the colour being recessive. The White Rose-comb Bantam, however, crossed with a coloured breed gives coloured cross breeds, the white being recessive. But in every specimen examined carefully these recessive whites were found to have one or more minute ticks of black pigment. Though, superficially regarded, these ticked whites would be classified as white, experiment proves them to be entirely different in nature. These facts elucidate the paradoxical accounts given by Darwin and others that Black and White Bantams crossed together give both blacks and whites; for the black may fully dominate over the white in this particular case. The following papers were read :-• 1. On the Sponge Leucosolenia contorta Bowerbank, Ascandra contorta Haeckel, and Ascetta spinosa Lendenfeld. By E. A. Min c h in , F.Z.S., University College, London. [Received March 16, 1905.] (Plate I.* and Text-figures 2-6.) The Calcareous Sponges have been a very unfortunate group, from the systematic point of view. From the time when Haeckel swept away all previous generic names, in order to found his so-called natural system, up to the present day, scarcely any two * For explanation of the Plate, see p. 20. 1* |