454 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



thus captured, was taken directly to the laboratory and examined. 

 By dipping out small portions in glass dishes and holding them 

 up to the light we could detect a great number of minute pelagic 

 animals swimming about in great commotion. These "surface 

 collections " are intensely interesting, for in them the biologist 

 finds multitudes of embryonic forms in various stages of their de- 

 velopment. The larvae of starfish, sea urchins, shrimps, conchs, 

 and other forms, appear in their normal living state under his 

 lens. Besides larvae, numerous adult forms, as Sagitta, Appen- 

 dicularia, platoid worms, Meduscz, and green Algcz, are collected. 

 A careful survey of the hosts of forms thus captured, and a fair 

 understanding of their true significance, prepare one for the often- 

 repeated statement that "the ocean is the original home of all 

 life." We are impressed with the fact that it is from this source 

 that we must seek further information that shall throw light 

 upon many biological problems at present unsolved. A few 

 days of general collecting in the sea suffices to reveal the great 

 abundance of life in the ocean as compared with its scarcity 

 on land. 



The various expeditions taken by our party in the tropics 

 would have been interesting and enjoyable to almost any one. 

 To the casual observer they may have presented the appearance 

 of pleasure excursions, rather than trips for earnest work and 

 study. 



On one occasion we sailed to Salt Pond, a kind of lagoon bor- 

 dering the sea, where numbers of crocodile and turtle were fre- 

 quently found. We had been rowing about for some time in the 

 pond with no success except that of catching mullet with a throw- 

 net, and taking note of the numerous cranes, pelicans, and bitterns 

 flying about, when we came upon a " crocodile slide/' This is a 

 smooth, broad trail leading up the bank, which the beast fol- 

 lows when it wishes to prepare a nest in the sand for its eggs, or 

 take a ramble beneath the underbrush. 



No sooner had we neared the slide than here came a frightened 

 crocodile about seven feet in length, dragging himself down the 

 slippery bank into the water. As it swam out in front of our 

 boat, its black nose protruded above the surface, offering a fine 

 shot, but fortunately for the crocodile our gun was left at home. 



Before leaving the pond we secured a fine collection of large, 

 beautiful jellyfish (Cassiopea), and luckily for us the boatman 

 discovered a dozen or more little crocodiles among the mangrove 

 roots ; we all repaired to the scene, and amid much excitement 

 succeeded finally in capturing one. 



One of the most productive collecting fields for our studies was 

 that in the mangrove ponds off the " pallisadoes," near Port Royal. 

 The mangroves in this region have extended into the shoal water, 



