Narrative oi" Bahama Expedition. 129 



less common. These animals are used for food by the 

 Bahamans,\vho make them into a sort of chowder. They are 

 undeniabl}- toiu^h. however, and we did not regard tlicm as 

 particularly palatable on the one occasion when an experi- 

 mental dish was prep:ired. Candor coaipels the confession, 

 however, that this may have been due to the fact that our cook 

 used condensed ni/'/k in the preparation of the (.howder. 



We were greatly astonished at the toleration exhibited by 

 some of these gastropods to immersion in alcohol. On one 

 occasion a number of small operculate specimens were left for 

 several days in moderately strong alcohol and then spread out 

 on the deck to dry. In a short time they were crawling 

 around apparently not one whit the worse for their long soak- 

 ing. It is probable that the operculum fits so tightlv as to 

 exclude the alcohol, but it still remains a mystery how the 

 animals got air for respiration. Possiblv they became narcot- 

 ized from the fumes of the alcohol, and were thus in a state 

 of suspended animation, as it were, during which the breath- 

 ing was practicall}' reduced to nothing. That the alcohol does 

 not actually enter the shell is shown bv the fact that when 

 small species of operculate gastropods are plunged into alcohol 

 and kept there, they are almost sure to decompose, — presum- 

 ably from the fact that the preservative does not come in 

 contact with the soft parts of the animal. Mr. H. F, Wick- 

 ham informs me that he has noticed that non-operculate forms 

 protect themselves when immersed in alcohol by throwing out 

 a large quantity of mucous, which seems to be impervious to 

 the fluid. A similar process may aid in protecting the opercu- 

 late forms. 



The Lamellibranchiata were much less abundant here than 

 at Bahia Honda, although quite a respectable number were 

 collected, including Chionc cingcnda Dillw\n. Avicula inar- 

 o-aritifera Linn.. Area velala Sow'b., Cardinin isocardiuin Linn., 

 Peeten ornatus Lam., Lucina iigxrina Lamk, besides several 

 unidentified species. 



The sub-kingdom Echinodermata was represented by a 

 splendid series of forms. Perhaps the greatest surprise was 



