158 Mr. J. G. Jeffreys on the Marine Testacea 



under the superintendence of Professor Robert Ball of Dublin, 

 and answered pretty well for experimental or deep-sea dredging, 

 but in my opinion it is not sufficiently capacious or heavy for 

 ordinary work. The net for this dredge was single, and of close- 

 woven twine. All the nets had been tanned, to prevent rotting. 

 In such distant expeditions it is of course advisable to have a 

 second dredge, in case of losing one. My sieves, which I took 

 in a case, under lock and key, were six in number, and lined 

 with brass wire of different degrees of fineness. The largest 

 measured about twelve inches in diameter. They are, I need 

 scarcely say, indispensable in the collection of the smaller shells. 

 While dredging, I always had a large tub in the boat to wash 

 the soil, as the sea was never sufficiently calm for that purpose, 

 and it obviated any risk of losing the sieves overboard. 2ndly, 

 from sea-weed. By this mode I obtained a great number and 

 variety of the littoral shells, such as Rissoa^ Skenea, and Scissu- 

 rella, which inhabit and feed on the sea-plants and confervse 

 that so abundantly clothe the rocks, and are submerged at low 

 water, or while the sea breeze blows inshore. The plan I 

 adopted was, to collect in a bag or pocket-handkerchief a quantity 

 of the sea-weed and coralline with their roots (and while bathing 

 I had especial opportunities) from different depths ; and on re- 

 turning to my room I steeped the whole in my sieves for some 

 time in a tub of fresh water, by which means the animals ap- 

 peared to be instantaneously killed, and dropped into the sieves. 

 These were then shaken over sheets of paper, and the contents 

 were exposed to the sun and dried, and afterwards carefully 

 sifted and separated from the stalks of sea-weed and larger 

 shells. The examination of the residuum, which almost entirely 

 consisted of minute shells, as well as the sorting and arrange- 

 ment of the specimens, took up a great deal of my time, but 

 amply rewarded me for the trouble. The 3rd, being the ordi- 

 nary mode used by collectors, was by picking up shells on the 

 sea-shore. The tides in the Mediterranean being so feeble and 

 irregular, there was not at Spezia a line of " spolia marina,^^ 

 such as we see on the sandy shores of Great Britain ; but by 

 wading a little, and examining the under side of loose stones, I 

 found a great many live shells which I never met with in my 

 own country, such as the Conus Mediterraneus, and several 

 species of Trochus, Patella, Columhella, Vermetus, and Pollia. 



Twice I made excursions to the Island of Palmaria, at the 

 entrance of the Gulf. I also went to Lerici (near which, on 

 the beach, stands the house formerly occupied by Lord Byron 

 and Shelley), and San Bartolomeo on the eastern, and Porto 

 Venere on the western shore. The Gulf or Bay of Spezia is 

 about seven miles in length, and varies from three to five miles 



