Mr. J. S. Bowerbank on the Structure of Sponges, 1 29 breadth, rather narrower behind than before, the posterior angles obtuse ; dorsal channel indistinct, the posterior fovea on each side in the form of a long narrow groove, which extends to the hinder margin ; no punctures on the thorax : elytra elongate, striated, the striae impunctate, those nearest the suture the most deep, the others rather faint : antennae scarcely reaching beyond the hinder margin of the thorax, and of a red colour, as well as the palpi ; legs pitchy red ; mandibles pitchy. In one specimen, the thorax is pitchy black, and the elytra pitchy ; in the other two specimens, the thorax, as well as the head, is black ; in all the specimens the outer mar-gins of the elytra are pitchy, and the reflected portion is pitchy red. This species is considerably larger than either of the preceding, being equal in size to the Calathus piceus. Sp. 21. Feronia (Argutor) Chilensis, Dejean, Spe. gen. des Co-leop., torn. iii. p. 251. Of this species there are three specimens, two of which are from Valparaiso, and the third is from S. Chiloe. [To be continued.] XVII. — Observations on a Keratose Sponge from Australia. By J. S. Bowerbank, Esq., F.G.S. To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Gentlemen, I AM not aware that modern naturalists have published the results of any examination of the structure of the Keratose or Horny Sponges while in that state of perfect preservation, such as they would be if alive, or immediately after their re-moval from their native element. The skeletons of these cu-rious animals are familiarly known to every naturalist, but in this state they have undergone decomposition of the softer parts of their substance ; and the descriptions handed down to us by former w^'iters, based upon the examination of such specimens, have unavoidably led to the propagation of erro-neous ideas of their true nature and structure. In a paper read before the Microscopical Society, January the 27th, 1841, I have shown that even in this state they possess a much higher and more complex form of organization than they had hitherto been supposed to exhibit, and that, contrary to re-ceived opinions, they are furnished with siliceous spicula, which are imbedded in considerable abundance in some of the larger fibres of their solid horny skeletons. Since the publication of these facts, I have had the oppor-tunity afforded me by the kindness of Mr. J. E. Gray, of examining a specimen of this class of Sponges which was Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. vii. K
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