Irregular, uneven, pale-yellow masses spreading over seaweeds; oscula scattered irregularly over the surface; texture close. GENUS ^Halichondria^ ^H. panicea^, crumb-of-bread sponge. It resembles the crumb of bread, and is found cast up on all beaches. (Plate XXXVIII.) GENUS ^Chalinopsilla^ ^C. oculata^, the finger-sponge. Stem stout, more or less flattened, dividing at the upper end into branches which vary in form and thickness, being finger-like or more or less compressed lobes; oscula scattered over the smooth, undulating surface; texture rather hard, but delicate; color, when living, dull orange-red; when the animal matter is removed, white. The species is found in shallow and deep water from New York to Labrador. Common in Massachusetts Bay. (Plate XXXIX.) ^C. arbuscula.^ Profusely branched in a forking manner from close to the base; branches slender; clusters six to eight inches high and about the same in breadth; color buff or gray when living, yellowish-white when free from animal matter; texture finer and more delicate than that of /C. oculata/. It is found in shallow water from Cape Cod to North Carolina, and is abundant in Long Island Sound. (Plate XXXIX.) GENUS ^Euspongia^ ^E. officinalis.^ This is one of the commercial sponges and is known as the "glove-sponge." It is the one of least marketable value, having inferior elasticity and becoming brittle with age; yet a Mediterranean sponge of the same species, variety /adriatica/, is of the finest quality and greatest value. This singular fact demonstrates that the quality of sponges depends largely upon physical conditions. /E. officinalis/ has an average height of five to six inches. It grows on rocky bottoms in shallow water on the east coast of Florida. This species has a number of varieties of various forms; some are dome-shaped, others tubular, rotund, flabellate, etc. The surface is covered with fine tufts and is generally free from ridges. On the sides are numerous small apertures, [pg108] and one or more large oscula occur on top. The color of the living sponge is black. (Plates XXXIX, XL.) ^E. officinalis^, variety ^adriatica^. More or less globose; sometimes attached by a broad base, sometimes by a short stem; latter form more or less club-shaped; oscula scattered over upper surface. Found in the West Indies and the Mediterranean. (Plate XL.) ^E. officinalis^, variety ^mollissima^, the Levant toilet-sponge. Generally cup-shaped; oscula on inner side of cup or on upper flat surface; very soft and elastic.