GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 77 



rine animals, and can be had in quantity in every month 

 of the year. As it is very hardy it can readily be trans- 

 ported alive, and kept in good condition for some time in 

 the class room. 



Alcyonoids are as a rule not gregarious and must be ob- 

 tained by dredging. I can recommend for some of the 

 genera of this group the broken shelly and clay bottom 

 half-way between Eastport and Campobello. One or two 

 of the genera attach themselves by preference to the inte- 

 rior of broken Mytilns shells, but they are rarely found in 

 multitudes, although at a single haul of the dredge at the 

 place mentioned I have often taken more than a dozen. 



Echinoderms are found on rocky or clay bottoms, in 

 sand, among broken shells and in the coralline zone, from 

 moderate depths to the line of low tide. Among the Oph- 

 iuroidea, OpJiiopJiolis aculeata can always be found just 

 below low tide at Nahant. Jt is a habit of this and some 

 other genera of snake-stars to avoid the light, so that one 

 must search for them under stones and in the crannies and 

 crevices of rocks or similar secluded places. If a large 

 number of Ophiopholis is desired, a visit to Clarke's ledge, 

 Eastport, will reward the collector with as many as he can 

 well take care of. 



The best grounds for collecting Gorgonoceplialus Agas- 

 sizii are the Race off Race Point, Provincetovvn, and the 

 Channel at Eastport off the Old Friar, Campobello, but this 

 genus can never be found in shore collecting. The genus 

 is gregarious. 



Asterias, the common star-fish, is found in abundance in 

 many localities. A visit to Beverly Bridge, Revere Beach 

 or Nahant, is sure to reward the collector with at least a 

 few. It' one wishes a larger number, Eastport, or best of 

 all Grand Manan will be more profitable. Cribrella, like 

 most of the other star-fishes, prefers a rocky bottom, but 



