NARRATIVE. 



(i'.l 



first minute 65 individuals were crawling up the glass. At the end of seven minutes 

 six had reached the surface of the water, a distance of 3% inches. Most of the rest 

 had attached themselves at various points lower down. The actual disposition on 

 the glass side of the small aquarium at the end of seven minutes, and an enlarged 

 figure of an individual when climbing, to show the expanded foot, are given in tig. 16. 

 The object of tin's record is to emphasize the great activity and the locomotory powers 

 of the spat at this stage, when it is usually regarded as a sedentary and in tad a 

 fixed animal. In cliuibinp;, attachmenl 



^?. 



S&tf 



m&z* 



'ig, 



Sketch of young pearl-oyster spat 

 attached to Sargassum. 



is made hv the base b of the foot, the 

 distal portion being elongated. Then 

 the tip a fixes and b at the same time 

 is freed and the animal is drawn upwards 

 hv the contraction and shortening of the 

 muscular foot. Then b fixes once more, 

 a is extended to a new position and the 

 process is repeated. 



We frequently observed that spat 

 collected on weed (such as Sargassum, 

 fig. 17, and Hypnea or Cladophora) very 

 readily detached itself and wandered 

 on to other objects or became trans- 

 ferred to the walls of the vessel, or even adhered together in balls of from 4 to 10 

 individuals. 



We now moved to the north end of the West Gheval Paar, where on March 6th, 

 at 7 a.m., the sea-temperature was 79 - 3 n and at 7 p.m. 79"5 F. ; the specific gravity 

 as usual being l - 023. In the morning we ran 2 lines of dives, from the " Serendib " 

 north -eastwards from the northern end of the West to the northern end of the East 

 Cheval, getting a small number of large oysters (with some dead shells) and consider- 

 able quantities of young. We also brought up a very fine specimen of Toxopneustes 

 pileolus with very beautiful and conspicuous pedicellarire, in which the 3 valves are 

 united by a discoid reddish membrane bordered by a conspicuous white line. 



The rest of the day was spent in dredging at a point about 10 miles north of the 

 morning position. Here 5 hauls were taken which may be regarded as 



STATION LIU. Ten to twelve miles north of Cheval Paar and about VI miles 

 west of Vankali (or Bangalli) Church ; depth 7h to 'J fathoms; bottom muddy 

 sand with some dead shells ; no large pearl oysters, only a few small : dredged. 

 Halimeda and some Nullipores, green Algae and Halophila ovata ; 

 Axinella dormant, and other sponges; 



Lytocarpus spcctabilis, Campanularia juncea, and species (which may be new) of 

 Haledum, Obelia, and Campamdaria ; Pennatulids and various living Corals; 



