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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



we now know that there are ten or a dozen localities where it is 

 found in large numbers, and that a fairly coarse clean sand and 

 strong currents of clear water are conditions that it generally seeks. 

 The peculiar odor, resembling that of iodine, which is a noticeable 

 feature of the ' Amphioxus sand ' in the Bay of Naples, was not 

 recognized at any of the collecting places examined by us. Incident- 

 ally in our dredgings for Amphioxus, it was noticed that there are 

 many sandy bottoms and beaches which are inhabited by large num- 

 bers of a rather small Balanoglossus. The western portion of Castle 

 Harbor contains brain corals (Meandra) in great abundance, many of 



them attaining an enormous size and 

 weight. The rocky shores, overgrown 

 with encrusting sea-weeds, are a 

 favorite browsing place for the great 

 opisthobranch mollusks (Aplysia), 

 which the Bermudians call sea-cats 

 (Fig. 27). 



Off the south shore, at a distance 

 varying from a few rods to a quarter 

 of a mile, runs a rocky ledge,— a kind 

 of barrier reef,- — over which the sea is 

 breaking incessantly. Here and there 

 the rocks take on the form of a huge 

 bowl or crater (Fig. 28), from the 

 rim of which the water pours over 

 after each swell of the sea in a beauti- 

 ful cascade. These diminutive atolls 

 are known locally as ' the boilers.' 



During almost every excursion 

 through the northern lagoon there 

 were encountered extensive patches 

 of floating gulf weed (Sargassum), 

 which, I may mention, grows at 

 certain points along the south shore. 

 An examination of the larger masses almost always yielded an abun- 

 dance of various crabs, bryozoans and nudibranchs, some of the latter 

 being most beautifully colored ; frequently the less common fishes, such 

 as the pipe fish (Syngnathus) and the grotesque Antennarius, were 

 found in these floating islands, evidently their natural home. After 

 protracted strong winds there are thrown upon the beach long wind- 

 rows of gulf weed, which harbor a variety of the animals that live 

 on the open sea. At such times the Portuguese man-of-war 

 (Physalia) is frequently so abundant as to make the beach purple 

 with its floats. * 



ig. 27. The Sea Cat. (Tethys [Aply 

 pia] dactylomela). X %• 



