G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 217 



of new species, and detected the occurrence, for the first time, 

 of others previously known as belonging much farther south, 

 among them two echinoderms, of which Cape Hatteras was 

 the limit previously ascertained. Their " catch" for the week 

 summed up 175 species of marine animals about 25 of fish- 

 es, 50 of crustaceans, 25 of worms, 50 of mollusks, and 15 of 

 radiates and sponges. Letter. 



DR. STIMPSON's EXPLORATIONS IN FLORIDA. 



Reference was made some time ago, under the head of 

 " Explorations in Florida," to the presence in that state dur- 

 ing the past winter of Dr. William Stimpson, the well-known 

 naturalist, and Secretary of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. 

 This enterprise deserves more than a passing notice in con- 

 sequence of its magnitude, and the thorough nature of the 

 examination made of the marine fauna of the Southern coast. 

 The work was instituted in the interest of the Academy of 

 Sciences of Chicago, and the funds supplied by the liberality 

 of Mr. Blatchford, of that city, who accompanied the expedi- 

 tion, and did all in his power to make it a success. A fast- 

 sailing schooner, with three boats and seven men, were en- 

 gaged at Key West, and the work began about the middle 

 of February. The entire length of the Florida reef, and the 

 Keys from Cape Florida to the Tortugas, a distance of two 

 hundred miles, was thoroughly examined, and dredging was 

 prosecuted both in the reef channel and in the Gulf Stream 

 outside. A laro-e collection of fishes was made, including 

 some new species, and over fifty species of shells were found 

 not hitherto reported from the Florida coast, although known 

 in the adjacent West Indian seas. Large numbers, however, 

 of entirely new species, both of mollusks and other inver- 

 tebrates, were collected, which will be worked out and pub- 

 lished at an early day. The total amount of collections made 

 filled sixty-two barrels and boxes, weighing about three tons.* 

 The alcoholic series would have been much larger but for 

 the high price of alcohol at Key West. The collections thus 

 made by Mr. Blatchford and Dr. Stimpson will add greatly 

 to the already rich cabinet of the Chicago Academy of Sci- 

 ences an institution which has assumed a high rank among: 



* We regret to say that all these collections were destroyed in the great 

 Chicago fire. Editor. 



