MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION ON PUFFIN ISLAND. 35 



and finally the trawl and the chief dredge were rendered 

 useless by dragging over the rough bottom, so the work 

 had to be given up earlier in the afternoon than usual. 

 Consequently I feel that this region between the Isle of 

 Man and Holyhead has not yet been sufficiently investi- 

 gated, and that it is very desirable that we should have 

 at least another day's work there, in favourable weather, 

 with a powerful tug such as the '* Spindrift" or the 

 "Gamecock." 



Amongst the rarer species obtained from over fifty 

 fathoms during this trip were : Cynthia tessellata, Am- 

 phiura hallii, Palmipes memhranaceus, Balamis pojxatus, 

 and a new species of Sponge {Halisarca rubra, n. sp.), 

 encrusting the shell of Mijtilus, which will be described 

 and figured by Dr. Hanitsch in a future report. Mr. 

 Walker informs me that so far as the Crustacea are 

 concerned this trip was disappointing, the only addition 

 to the ''Fauna" being Hippolyte spinus. Euonyx chelata, 

 a rare Amphipod, once before taken at Puffin Island, was 

 however found abundantly on Echinus sphcera. 



Deep-sea Tow-net. 



On this occasion Mr. Hoyle's deep-sea tow-net was used 

 down to a depth of thirty fathoms. The closing apparatus 

 worked without a hitch, save once, when a small piece of 

 rope which was drifting in the water became twisted round 

 the line and thus prevented the descent of the messengers. 

 The possibility of such an occurrence had always been 

 foreseen, but it is not sufficiently serious to militate against 

 the use of the apparatus in shallow water. The operation 

 does not take long, and if one haul should fail it is easy 

 to make another. In the exploration of great depths, 

 however, the case is different. The period occupied in 



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