^^ THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. vii 



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shallow tub ; and this was covered with a tarpaulin and placed in 

 the shade. An ordinary thermometer, with a metal case and 

 perforated base, was then plunged into the mud, and the whole 

 was kept carefully shaded for a time. With one exception, the 

 temperature of the mud was found to be from 37° to 38° Fahr., 

 and this not alone in deep water ; for sand brought up from 25 

 fathoms, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, also made the 

 mercury sink to 38° or 37° Fahr. In the centre of the river, 

 between the island of iVnticosti and the south shore of the St.. 

 Lawrence, mud brought up from 200 fathoms, only made the 

 mercury sink to from 43° to 45° Fahr. Either a warm cur- 

 rent affects the temperature of the bottom at this point, or else 

 my observations were inaccurate or defective, which latter as^ 

 sumption is by no means unlikely. 



With a view of trying to get some information as to the nature 

 of the food of some of the surface-feeding fishes, and especially of 

 the herring and mackerel, towing nets were frequently used ; but 

 comparatively few specimens were taken in these. Hempen tan- 

 gles, similar to those devised by Captain Calver, were also em- 

 ployed, and with much more success. 



The following is a brief sketch of some of the most interesting^ 

 forms of animal life obtained during the expedition. During the. 

 autumn of 1871, Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., visited Montreal,, 

 and went over the whole of the testaceous Mollusca with me. I 

 am also indebted to Professors A. Aaassiz, A. E. Yerrill, and S. 

 I. Smith for the identification of several critical species. 



FORAMINIFERA. 



Large quantities of these beautiful organisms were collected, 

 especially from very deep water, but at present only a portion of 

 these have been carefully examined. In "Mr. G. 31. Dawson's- 

 paper on the " Foraminifera of the River and Gulf of the St. 

 Lawrence," published in Vol. 5 (New Series) of this Journal, a 

 list is given of fifty-six subspecies or varietal forms. Among the 

 individuals collected last year in deep water are a number of large 

 specimens to which it is difficult to attach any name, but which 

 form a series connecting the subgenera Nodosaria, Dentalina, 

 MarginiiUna and Cristellaria. One of the most remarkable of 

 these IS a Marginulina with long spinous processes developed from 

 the first chamber. It is probably M. spinosa of M. Sars. Cris- 

 tellaria crejnclula and Trochammina incerta were collected m 



