310 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1888. 



otherwise, vast quantities. All the individuals that were opened 

 had their intestinal canal, or more jiroperly, their entire digestive 

 tracts, completely choked with calcareous particles. 



The following are the species of holothurians observed by us, 

 only one of w^hich, I believe, had hitherto been noted from the 

 Bermudas : 



Holothuria Floridana, Pourtales. (Holothuria atra, Jager.) PI. 14, figs. 6, 6a, 

 7, 7a. 



I identify with this species five small individuals of an olive-green 

 color which were obtained in Castle Harbor, and which in a general 

 way agree with the description of the species given by Pourtales 

 (Proc. American Assoc, 1851, p. 12). Unfortunately, no figure 

 accompanies the description, and that part which pertains to the 

 calcareous bodies embodied in the skin is too vague to permit of spe- 

 cific determination. Selenka (Zeitschrift fur wissenschaftlklie Zool- 

 ogie, xvii, p. 324, 1867) has supplemented the original description 

 with furtlaer details of structure and with illustrations of the spicules, 

 which practically leave no doubt in my mind that the Bermudian 

 forms, even though differing somew^hat from the type described by 

 Pourtales, are really that species. I have examined the spicular 

 bodies of all the individuals, and find that they exhibit considerable 

 variation (PI. 14, figs. 6, Qa, 7, 7a). This is especially noticeable in 

 the form of the stools. I really doubt if very much dependence can 

 be placed upon these bodies as furnishing characters for specific 

 distinction. I also find a certain amount of variation in the num- 

 ber of tentacles. Thus, while four of the individuals have the 

 normal number I'f tentacles, 20, one has only 10, although in all 

 other essentials of structure it agrees with the remaining four. The 

 dorsal surface is distinctly papillate. The elongated yellowish pedi- 

 cels of the ventral surface are irregularly distributed, as stated by 

 Selenka, and I could not determine any strictly linear disposition 

 such as in indicated by Pourtales. 



The largest specimen measures about two and a half inches. 



Semper, Ludwig, and Lampert (Die Seewalzen, Semper's JReisen 

 im Archipel der Philippinen., 1885, p. 86) identify this species with 

 the Holotlmria atra of Jiiger (1833), whose range is made to be 

 practically cosmopolitan — extending from the Radack Archipelago 

 and the Sandwich Islands to Adelaide, Zanzibar, the Ked Sea, and the 



