74 THE NAUTILUS. 



ground, becoming rocky. These stretches of hard bottom are often 

 the resort of great numbers of Pecten magellanicus, known to the 

 natives as "scallops." This giant among the Pectens is gathered 

 somewhat extensively for the markets, but does not make a particu- 

 larly dainty dish. It is best collected by sinking or draging along 

 a fishing-line over the bottom of the scallop beds. The big fellows 

 seize the line viciously and permit themselves to be hauled out of 

 the water ; unfortunately, adult specimens are usually badly eroded. 



Such stations contain Crenella glandula ; they swarm with Nassa 

 trivittata, and seem literally to be paved with Nucula proximo,. The 

 mud bottom is fairly rich in Lunatia triseriata, Yoldia limatala and 

 thraciceformis, and again Nucula proximo,. Leda tenuisulcata is 

 occasionally met. 



Passing out to the open sea the water very gradually deepens, 

 and patches of shelly bottom are frequent. These places, made up 

 for the most part of broken shells, fine gravel and sand, offer good 

 rewards to the collector. Dentalium entails, Turrit el la erosa, Pecten 

 islandicus (dead), Cardium pinnulatum, Aatarte snlcata and Tere- 

 bratulina septemtrionalis, the latter, invariably imbedded in sponges, 

 may be readily obtained. 



Upon the rocks between tide?, the usual Litorinas, together with 

 Purpura lapillus, are always abundant, a splendid red variety of the 

 latter occurring near Otter Cliffs. Just below the low-tide mark, 

 Chrysodomus decemcostatus and a degenerate form of Bucdnum un- 

 datum, range. Their home among the rocks protects them from 

 the dredge, but they may be easily tempted by bait. In all rocky 

 places of moderate depth the pretty little Margarita undulata, 

 tinged with red and iridescent within, can be found. 



On flats, exposed by the receding tide, of which there are a few 

 in the vicinity of Mt. Desert, the soft clam, Mya arenaria, lives 

 buried several inches below the surface. The number of these 

 creatures annually taken by fishermen for bait from the "Bar" at 

 Bar Harbor, figures well into the hundreds of thousands, yet the 

 supply never seems to diminish. 



A few dead valves of Arctica islandica indicates the presence ^of 

 this boreal species in the bay. A more thorough examination of the 

 depths of the harbor would undoubtedly reveal many more interest- 

 ing things to the explorer than I came across in my two or three 

 moderately successful dredging expeditions at Bar Harbor last 

 summer. 



