EQUIPMENT. 25 
While using, especially on muddy bottom, the dredge as for- 
merly made, with a frame having a bevelled edge, we experi- 
enced great annoyance at first from the amount of mud brought 
up by it. When the dredge was dropped in soft ooze, it evi- 
dently sank deeply in it and filled at once; and since the viscid 
mud did not wash out easily, it was even difficult to sift it on 
deck. To obviate this defect, we stopped a piece of two-and-a- 
half-inch rope below the dredge-frame to raise the lips and pre- 
vent it from cutting into the mud. This worked admirably, 
and after that our dredges always came up bringing less mud 
and a larger supply of specimens. We subsequently made our 
dredges with a flat frame, obviating completely the defects in 
the old-fashioned dredges.' 
Attached to the end of the dredge-frame is a long iron bar 
to which are fastened 
large swabs. These 
huge rope tails trail be- 
; hind the dredge, and in 
Р them become entangled 
all sorts of starfish, sea- 
urchins, crabs, corals, 
sea-fans, sponges, and 
even fishes which do 
not readily find their 
way into the dredge. 
When the bottom is 
very rough or rocky, 
or it is of uneven coral, 
the bar and tangles 
alone are frequently 
used. (Fig.24.) For this 
sort of bottom, where 
there is always danger 
| that either a dredge or 
Fig. 24. — Bar and Tangles. a trawl may be carried 
1 A dredge is used among natives of іп action in one of his lectures on Deep- 
the Philippines’ and Japan. Mr. Mose- Sea Dredging. 
ley has given a sketch of such a dredge 
