{022 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [22] 
this occasion a very large number of oysters, and on none of them did 
I find the peculiarly-shaped egg-shells of the “« Drill”; neither did I find 
either young or old, living or dead specimens of the animal itself. 
We did not continue this investigation, principally because we felt 
that it would be fruitless. Considering that, even in the most unfa- 
vorable case, the quantity of “ Drills” is very small, we doubt whether a 
continuation of this investigation would be of any use. The chance 
was very slender that by dredging we would find either the animal 
itself or its young; and, on the other hand, as long as a single oyster 
and asingle foot of ground remained unexamined the circumstance of 
our not finding any “ Drills” would not justify us in drawing any con- 
clusions as to their non-occurrence in these waters. 
Such theoretical considerations would, however, not have prevented 
us from seeking greater certainty on this point by a second investi- 
gation, if it had not been for the fact that an accurate investigation of 
the entire mollusk fauna of our country might involve questions which 
should be approached with the utmost caution. Supposing we had ob- 
tained the absolute certainty that a ‘ Drill” was living or had lived 
among the oysters planted on the Herkingsche Banks, this would by no 
means prove incontrovertibly that this ‘‘Drill” had been recently intro- 
duced from the coast of France among Arcachon oysters. 
The “ Drill” which is referred to in the above is the Murex erinaceus, 
L. The Murex tarentinus, Lamark, is, according to some writers, a 
variety of the same genus, found in more southern seas, the Mediterra- 
nean, &e., whilst according to others (among them Gwyn Jeffreys, an 
authority of the first rank), Murex tarentinus is nothing more nor less 
than a full-grown Murex erinaceus. This animal is quite common on the 
coast of France, from the south as far as Boulogne; on the coast of 
Great Britain it is found on rocky bottoms, from the tide line as far as 
the region of the Laminarians, both on the southern and western coasts 
of England and Scotland, and on the coasts of Ireland and Wales. This 
animal has also been repeatedly observed on the eastern coast of Eng- 
land and Scotland, in the mouth of the Thames, near Yarmouth, 
Searborough, Northumberland, Durham, in the Bay of Berwick, near 
Aberdeen, and in the Moray Virth (Gwyn Jeffreys). It is also found 
near Ostend and Blankenberg, on the coast of Belgium, although not 
as frequently. (1. de Malsine observed a live specimen on aray near 
Ostend.) As far as the coast of the Netherlands is concerned, Herklots 
says this animal belongs to its fauna, without telling us, unfortunately, 
where he has observed it. The museumof the Zeeuw Association, at Mid- 
dleburg, possesses a specimen which came from the North Sea. I must 
also mention, in conclusion, that, according to Lovén, this animal is found 
in the Kattegat, but not farther north, either on the coast of Scandinavia 
or in the open North Sea. The fact of its having been found near Yar- 
mouth is only given on the authority of the ‘‘ Commission zur Unter- 
suchung der deutschen Meere”—Comumnission for investigating the German 
Seas. 
