74 PENIKESE. 



duty! He would usually continue the exercise until, 

 the most obdurate lover of Somnus had become fully 

 aroused. The flourishes and grimaces with which all 

 this was accompanied and executed would have 

 caused many a hearty laugh, could you have seen 

 him, as you were awakened, in spite of your desire to 

 remain longer in delicious repose, by the perseverance 

 of the good-natured urchin, who reminded one greatly 

 of a small, insignificant, but very troublesome fly, 

 who returns again and again, as often as you drive 

 him away, t(5 torment you. 



Our dormitories, this year, are much more conven- 

 ient, in every way, than they were the year previous. 

 Now there are plenty of rooms; and each person is 

 thus provided with a separate and individual apart- 

 ment. These two buildings, which are dormitories 

 above and laboratories beneath, are crossed in the 

 center by a lecture-room, and look, from without and 

 at a little distance, like an immense letter H. The 

 laboratory doors face the sea at least two of them, 

 at the rear of each room and give us plent}' of fresh 

 air, as well as a fine view of the harbor and of the 

 surrounding waters. In these rooms we are busy by 

 day and by night. I recall one of our number who 

 labored both diligently and often at the Echini. 

 These "Sand-dollars," as they are vulgarly called, 

 engrossed his especial attention. The seamen call 

 them "Spanish dollars," owing, no doubt, to the fact 

 that they come from the bottom of the sea and call to 

 mind, perhaps, the old legends of hidden treasures 

 restored to rash adventurers by some similar, seem- 

 ingly mysterious process as that by which now we 

 dredged old ocean's bottom, and brought to light its 

 valuable products. 



During our second week upon the island, which 

 has just closed, we have had another delightful even- 

 ing lecture on sound, by Professor Mayer; his agree- 

 able manners and perfect experiments making it 

 doubly interesting. Mr. Barnard, also, has given 

 several additional talks upon the protozoa or lower 



