protractor. To "fix" your position with a sextant take two angles between 

 any three objects or points on your chart, set the arms of the protractor at 

 these angles and place it on the chart with one arm passing through each 

 object. The center of the protractor indicates your position. A cheap 

 sextant will work satisfactorily for this purpose. The one that I use cost 

 $4.50 and the three-arm protractor costs $6.50. 



FOUR TO FOUR HUNDRED FEET BENEATH THE SEA 

 DREDGING IN FLORIDA WATERS 



By Jeanne S. Schwengel 

 Reprinted from 1941 annual report, American Malacological Union 



Collecting mollusks is one of the most fascinating time-takers in the 

 world, and for the amateur it opens up a new world of creatures strange 

 and rare. For those of you who have never dredged, let me say that once 

 tried, the urge to continue is irresistible. There are those few moments of 

 suspense, as the men begin to haul in the dredge, when you wonder, with a 

 consuming curiosity, just what they will dump before your eyes, maybe 

 only broken shells and rubbish (garbage, we call it), but mostly you will 

 find treasure upon treasure. The very shell you had so hoped to find, but 

 never really expected; another of this and of that, so that you may share 

 with other collectors; one load after another, never the same, always 

 interesting. 



To go about this work the weather must be propitious. Dredging 

 simply cannot be done in a satisfactory manner if the sea is too rough, or 

 the day too cold or wet. My first dredging was under the experienced 

 tutelage of Mrs. Nelson R. Perry and Theodore T. Dranga, and I doubt 

 if two more capable or experienced teachers could be found. Our boat was 

 one of the fishing cruisers of Sanibel, large enough to be comfortable for us 

 all, and powerful enough to haul our heavy dredges at any depth we 

 wished to fathom. The dredges we had made at a blacksmith shop: a strong 

 iron frame about 36 x 20 x 8 inches, covered with heavy '/^ inch wire mesh, 

 a heavy flanged cutting edge on both 20-inch lips, iron rod arms from each 

 corner of the opening, each two side arms converging into a loop for a 

 6-foot chain which joins in another ring, large enough for the y2"i'^ch, or 

 more satisfactory y<^-inch. manila dredge- line to be run through and safely 

 knotted. At times we use a regulation Maine scallop dredge, and again a 

 tangle, which is made of a cross-bar to which our dredging rope may be 

 attached, and a mass of unravelled manila rope of varying lengths, the 

 whole about 30 inches wide and about 8 feet in length. This is an excellent 

 way of collecting pectens of all species, and in many cases Spondylus will 

 be dragged up with the tangle, also Pinna and other shells with a rough 

 surface that will cling to the threads of the tangle. 



For dumping of the material, we have had built what we call a 

 dredging-board. It is about 3 feet wide and is arched slightly in the center 

 so that the water will run off easily. It reaches about a foot beyond each 



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