62 



THE ATLANTIC. 



[chap. II. 



canic sand, a few miles to the west of the island of Palma. The 

 dredging was fairly successful, yielding one or two undescribed 

 echinoderms. On the evening of the 20th we were approach- 

 ing the position of Station III., where we had brought up the 

 coral coated with manganese on the 18th of Februar}', and we 

 were anxious to have another cast as nearly as possible on the 

 same spot, in the hope of perliaps getting some of the coral 

 alive, or in some way clearing up the question of its conditions. 



Fio. ^&.—Oph^acantha chelys, Wvvir.LE Thomson. Dorsal aspect of the disk. Pour times 



the uatural size. (No. ST.) 



On the following day we were a little too far to the westward, 

 so we steamed up near the desired jjoint, and sounded again 

 upon the ridge in 1675 fathoms, and put over the dredge. The 

 event showed that we were not far out of our reckoning, for 

 the dredge brought up a quantity of fragments of the coral, and 

 several other animals identical with those procured in the pre- 

 vious haul. None of the coral was alive, however, and the 

 pieces were quite similar in every respect to those which we 



