COLLECTIXG HEX. IN THE SAGAMI SEA. 29 



seem not infrequently to do, it is regarded as a bad presage and 

 the objects are directly thrown back into sea. Exactly so with 

 the fishermen of the Sagami Sea. Many indeed must be the 

 objects brought daily to the surface by the numerous dabo-liners 

 during their season, — objects perhaps of great value to naturalists 

 but which to their eyes are all unwelcome ' filths,' * w'eeds ' or 

 'useless cottons.' From sheer habit or perhaps from wrath or 

 even for the sake of precaution against receiving stings, the 

 fishermen manage to get rid of them as soon as practicable, often 

 without once heaving them out of the water. However, by giving 

 them ample encouragement for a continuous period, which meant 

 a not inconsiderable outlay, we succeeded in bringing many to 

 appreciate that their ' filths ' might possibly be found to contain 

 gold when shown to the proper connoisseurs on land. Wherever 

 the same or similar methods of fishing are carried on and there 

 is a fair prospect of success, naturalist collectors would do well 

 to do their utmost to * educate ' the fishermen for their own 

 benefit. 



It goes without saying that long-lining, like any other method 

 of deep-sea collecting in common vogue, has its advantages and 

 disadvantages depending upon the character of the depths, of the 

 bottom, of the animals to be collected, &c. The process recom- 

 mends itself as being relatively simple and inexpensive, enabling 

 us to reach a tolerably great depth where dredging or trawling 

 can only be managed by steam-power or, if the bottom be rocky, 

 is scarcely possible at all. In the case of certain animals — the 

 Hexactinellida to wit — the long-lines as a collecting apparatus 

 seem to be at least as effective as the trawl, and in a certain 

 sense they are decidedly more efiective. When the ' Challenger' 

 was at work in Sagami Bay, what her large trawls and dredges 



