148 



gets into the net and needs all the strength of the engine 

 and crew to get it on board, but it usually has quantities 

 of small animals attached to it that pay for the trouble. 

 On muddy bottoms a dredge is sometimes used with a 

 rake attached in front of the mouth, the rake stirs up the 

 mud, and the worms and moUusks are washed out of it 

 into the net. On a rocky bottom even, where it is too 

 rough for the dredge, a tangle is used. This consists of 

 bunches of untwisted rope fastened to chains, by which 

 they are drawn over the bottom, sweeping up the rough 

 echinoderms antl Crustacea as with a mop. The animals 

 hold on to the hemp and are so brought to the surface. 



By these various methods, in the course of a fortnight, 

 over three hundred species of animals were obtained, 

 among them several rare fishes and many other animals 

 of entirely new species. A complete list of these is 

 promised by Prof. Verrill for the Society's Bulletin, 

 and we shall then have as complete a knowledge of the 

 deep-water fauna of our bay as before of the waters uorth 

 and south of it. 



Prof. George H. Dixon, of Hampton, Va., described 

 some of the plants that had been collected, including the 

 Melilotus, which the English cattle are very fond of, though 

 the cattle here leave it intact. The Crataegus belong- 

 ing to the same family as the English Hawthorn was ex- 

 hibited, also several species of grasses. The Golden Rod 

 was held up as an object of admiration, there being in 

 England but one of the forty varieties that are known. 

 He then read a piece of poetry which he had picked up 

 that morning, giving an interesting description of the 

 manner in which sahnon go up the river to spawn. lu 

 England there is a very heavy tine for the taking of salmon 

 during the spawning period ; and he was glad to see an 



