478 



NATURE 



\Sett. 14, 1882 



summit of the pass where a tunnel for the railway was 

 nearly completed before the troubled state of the country 

 put a stop to the work. Owing to delays, usual in that 

 part of the world, we were unable to start until ten o'clock. 

 Partly on that account, and partly because snow had 

 fallen during the night towards the summit of the pass, 

 we resolved to halt at a point about 14,300 feet above the 

 sea, and devote a couple of hours to the very interesting 

 vegetation of that region. Although the path was not 

 steep in that part, my horse, a spirited animal, already 

 showed symptoms of distress, panting for breath and 

 pausing at every few yards ; but neither I nor my com- 

 panion felt the slightest inconvenience during the day. 

 On my return I fully expected some renewal of the 

 symptoms of the preceding night, but to my surprise I 

 slept perfectly on that as well as the succeeding night, 

 as did also my companion. It seemed as if the ascent 

 to a higher level and the return to Chicla had the effect 

 of acclimatising us. 



I should mention that on the first two nights we both 

 noticed one further symptom of derangement of the func- 

 tions in the extreme turbidity of the secretion from the 

 kidneys, but this as well as the others disappeared on the 

 third night. I failed to detect any disturbance of the 

 respiration or the circulation, although my attention was 

 specially directed to these which are the ordinary, but 

 not invariable, symptoms of mountain sickness. 



I. Ball 



DREDGING IN THE NORWEGIAN FJORDS 

 TDEFORE leaving this enchanting spot (Lervik on the 

 -*-' island of Stordoe near Bergen) where, in company 

 with Mr. A. G. Bourne, I have spent the month of August, 

 I send a few hurried lines to give an outline of the results 

 which a month's dredging and microscopising have 

 yielded. Lervik was introduced to me by the Rev. Alfred 

 Norman, who two years since found here, at a depth of 

 100 fathoms in the Hardanger Fjord (about five miles 

 from Lervik haven), that very remarkable Polyzoan 

 mollusc, Rhabdopleura. Mr. Norman originally dis- 

 covered this organism off the Shetlands, and it has since 

 been described from specimens observed in the Lofoten 

 Islands by Prof. G. O. Sars, who was able to give a more 

 complete account of it than had been possible for Prof. 

 Allman, who described and named Mr. Norman's Shet- 

 land specimens preserved in alcohol. 



During ten days of my stay here I have had the great 

 advantage of the company of Mr. Norman, whose know- 

 ledge of dredging operations and of the northern marine 

 fauna is unrivalled. My object has been to make a 

 further study of Rhabdopleura upon fresh and living 

 examples, and in this I have been successful. At first 

 we found Rhabdopleura only at great depths attached to 

 recently dead pieces of the beautiful coral, Lophohelia 

 proli/era. But subsequently we have been able to dredge 

 it and bring it in for study within an hour, having dis- 

 covered it in water of only 25 fathoms depth at the 

 mouth of the harbour where it occurs in the form of 

 creeping colonies upon Ascidia mentitla, and on dead 

 shells. A body-cavity, tentacular skeleton, male repro- 

 ductive organs, and various facts as to the mode of 

 growth, gemination, and development of the polypides, 

 are the new features which these specimens have so far 

 brought to light, whilst they have also served to confirm 

 in many important respects the description given by 

 G. O. Sars. 



Our next most important "find" has been a very 

 interesting green-coloured Gephyrean, in all probability 

 identical with the Hamingia arcticaol Koren and Daniel- 

 :en, known hitherto only by one spirit-specimen, de- 

 scried last year by the Norwegian zoologists, and by a 

 second dredged here two years since by Mr. Norman, but 

 as yet unnoticed. The published specimen appears to 



have lost its frontal process or appendage, which was 

 perfect in the one dredged by us. The aspect of the 

 complete worm is precisely that of a green Thalassema, 

 from which, however, it differs most importantly in the 

 absence of genital seta?, and in the structure of the cloacal 

 nephridia, as also in the number and structure of the 

 oviducts. Hamingia is also remarkable, as is Thalassema 

 neptuni (which I obtained last year in quantity on the 

 s.uth coast of Devon) for having in its perivisceral fluid 

 a large number of corpuscles deeply impregnated with 

 Haemoglobin, which give to the fluid a blood-red colour. 



The special feature of the sea- bottom at depths of 100 

 fathoms and upwards, in these Norwegian Fjords, is the 

 abundance of corals and Alcyonians. Nothing can exceed 

 the delicate beauty of the white branches of Lophohelia 

 prolifero, with which our "tangles" are always filled. 

 Amphihelia ramea is nearly as frequent. Allopora Nor- 

 vegica, a fine example of the Stylasteridas made famous 

 by Prof. Moseley, is also very abundant. But the most 

 splendid of these coral forms is the Paragorgia arhorea, 

 of which we have taken a stem as thick as a man's arm, 

 its branches spreading over three feet, and all (when 

 living) of a perfectly uniform rose colour, as though 

 modelled in wax of that tint. Allied forms — Paramurieia 

 placomus and Primnoa lepadifera — are not uncommon, 

 the latter affecting a bright salmon colour. The soft 

 parts of nearly all these forms have yet to be studied in 

 detail, and the preservation of samples in the approved 

 reagents has been our special care. 



Antedon Sarsii, Rhizocrinus lofotensis, Neomenia cart- 

 nata, and anetoderma nitidulum are amongst the scarce 

 animals of exceptional intere5t which we have had the 

 good fortune to dredge. On the other hand, Terebratu- 

 lina caput-serpentis and Waldheimia cranium are very 

 abundant in only thirty fathoms, and Mr. Bourne has 

 commenced an investigation of their structure which has- 

 been hitherto neglected, probably on account of the mar- 

 vellous completeness of the account given by Hancock of 

 Waldheimia Australis, based though it was on the study 

 of spirit-specimens. A fir.~t result is that Terebratulina 

 is not momecious, but males and females are distinct. 



Amongst animals of common occurrence or of less 

 interest from an anatomical point of view, we have taken 

 the following, identified by Mr. Norman, who has himself 

 a much longer list from this and other parts of the Nor- 

 wegian coast. Of Echinoderms, Psolus squama/us, OH- 

 gotrochus viireus, Holothuria elegans, H. inlestinalis, 

 Echinocucumis typiea, Echinus spheera, E. Fleniingii, 

 Spatangtts purpureus, Echinocy.ttnus pusillus, Echtno- 

 cardium ovatum, Goniaster Phrygiantts, Porania put- 

 villus, Astrogonium granulare, Archaster Parelii, Luidia 

 Sarsii, Solaster furcifer, Stychaster roseus, Cribella oeu- 

 lata, Asteiias rubens, A. glacialis, cphiopholis aculeata, 

 Ophiocoma nigra, Ophioglypha lacertosa, O. albida, 

 Ophioscolex purpurea. (_ f larger Crustaceans, Hyas 

 coarctaius, Galathea tridentata, Munida Banfica, Hippo- 

 lytus securijrons, Paudalus annulicornis, Pasaphaa Sa- 

 vignii. Of Sponges there are a very large number which 

 have never yet been examined ; amongst those recognised 

 were Thenia Wyville-Thomsonii, Geodia norvegica, The- 

 caphora (a " Porcupine " form), Quassilina brevis, Asbes- 

 lopluma (a new genus of Norman), and other common 

 forms. The Rhizopods include some very extraordinary 

 and large forms, abundant Haliphysema, Astrorhisa 

 limicola, many arenaceous species, and a black sausage- 

 like organism attaining a length of one-third of an inch, 

 the skin of the sausage, membranous with an emarginate 

 aperture at one pole— the contents hyaline protoplasm 

 with an immense number of large dark green granular 

 corpusles embedded in it. Of the Nemertines and 

 Chastopods, I will not venture to speak without library, 

 and the list of mollusca would fill a whole column of 

 Nature. One word I would say in conclusion, namely, 

 that were a real zoological station, similar to that of 



