NO. 8 SMITHSONIAN l.N I'l.ORAIMON S. I<M3 2/ 



eiglit (k'i^rces less than that of the open sea. The nnul hroiij^Iil up 

 witli the (h-edge seemed ahiiost icy to tlie toncli. Tliis comhtion is 

 ])r()l)al)ly ])ro(hice(l l)y cold springs seeping throngh the floor of the 

 hight. This colder water of the hight yielded to their dredge Yoldia 

 Vunatula, large and fine, and Xiiciila proxinm, whereas jtist arotmd 

 the protective spit of sand, on the ocean side, they fotmd dead Tere- 

 hras of two species, some young Bnsycon pcn'crsa and a \alve of 

 Cordliim robitstuin; a somewhat startling association of species. 



Then there was the open sea, which here presumalily differs in no 

 manner from other oi:)en sea stations along the 200 miles or more of 

 this coast. Idie l)Ottom drops off very gradually to the edge of the 

 continental shelf, some 75 or 100 miles out. The open sea stations 

 which they occupied were, as might he expected, very j^oor. The 

 smooth, hard sand hottom seemed almost barren of life, and the 

 sotter ])atches that were explored contained only many dead shells, 

 mostly small bivalves. The work in the open sea was scarcely a good 

 test, although the collectors made ])robably 20 hauls reaching out from 

 the shore some 4 or 5 miles, l)ul the chart soundings indicated more 

 promising areas of pebbly bottom a few miles beyond what thev con- 

 sidered the safety zone for a small motor boat. 



The inner waters of the sound w^ere found to be unexj^ectedlv rich 

 in moUuscan life, the species, for the most part, not having been taken 

 previously oittside or in the bight. 



Only two full working days were s])ent here, where the partv was 

 fortunate in securing an excellent boat and ol)liging ski]:)per. 1die 

 material has l)een identified with great care, and the results of the 

 ex]iedition will ])e i)ul)lished in the Proceedings of the L'. S. Xational 

 Museum. 



EXI^KRIMl':X'rS WITH CKRIONS in the FLORIDA KEYS 



In the second issue of the Smithsonian ex])loration ])am])hlet.' at- 

 tention was called to ex]ieriments with Cerions. conducted bv Dr. 

 r.artsch. under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution. The ]ilant- 

 ings of Bahama Cerions made u]wn the Florida Kevs were visited 

 in the latter ]xirt of A])ril and early June l)y Dr. I'artsch. and a de- 



^ Smithsonian ]\li.sc. Coll., Vol. 60, No. 30. 1913. ))]). 58-62. 



