126 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



the town of Beaufort. This is a solid and apparently nearly sta- 

 tionary part of the shoals, where the sand is somewhat packed and 

 matted with a scant growth of some marine grass. No specimens 

 whatever were found, although carefully sought for, in more ex- 

 posed and shifting parts. As the shoal is flooded over with two 

 or three feet of water at high tide, and the animal lives only 

 about at or below low-water mark, it can be gathered only 

 during an hour or two when the tide is fully out. They will be 

 found a few inches below the surface, and may readily be pro- 

 cured by the expedient devised by Mr. Morse, of digging up spade- 

 fuls of sand, and sifting it through a coarse sieve held partly 

 under water. It will be found most convenient to wade into the 

 water where it is a foot or less deep, and dig there, as there is then 

 no necessity of carrjdng the sieve back and forth. In this way 

 Mr. Morse, Dr. Packard, and myself once procured over fifty in 

 about an hour, and I several times took twentj^ or thirty in the 

 same time. They should be carefully picked out from the stems 

 and roots of the grass in which they are found entangled after 

 sifting, and placed in a basin or bottle of water with some clean 

 sand, where they may be kept alive for an indefinite length of time. 

 Mr. Morse wrote me that all the specimens he took north in May, 

 were alive several months subsequently. Other interesting speci- 

 mens may be procured along with the Lingulas, in the same way ; 

 as numerous tubicolous worms, an ophiurau, Benilla, and the rare 

 and highly prized Branchiostoma. 



CEPHALOPODA. 



I have not the means of identifying the'following species, and 

 merely presume that the names may be correct, from the circum- 

 stance of their occurring in Kurtz's list. 



Octopus granulatus, Lam. 



One specimen, measuring about thi'ee feet across the tentacles, 

 was brought to me in winter by some fishermen, who considered 

 it a rarity. 



Loligo brevipinna, Lesueur. 



Rather common ; several specimens obtained at diflferent sea- 

 sous. 



The collection of Marine Shells was referred to Sanderson 

 Smith, Esq., for determination ; and the names in the following 



[July 18, 



