MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, 5 
other Echini of which former expeditions had only attained a few broken 
or single specimens. I recognized a number of tho Bryozoa and Hy- 
droids described by Smitt and Allman, in addition to several new forms. 
The line (5) extending into deep water from the north of Alacran 
Reef did not give us anything which had not already been found in line 
four (4), extending from the Tortugas across to the Yucatan Bank. 
On the eastern odge of the Yucatan Bank we obtained from deep 
water a new genus of Diadematide allied to Centrostephanus; the 
ame has also been found by the “Challenger ” off Madeira, if I am not 
mistaken. From shallower water we obtained a number of fino specimens 
of the extinct genus Conoclypus, of a brilliant lemon-color ; with it came 
up a number of specimens of Rhizocrinus. The latter appear to bo 
more abundant on the rocky bottom in from 300 to 400 fathoms along 
the edge of the Florida Reefs. On one occasion off Sand Key the dredge 
must have passed through a forest of them, judging at least from tho 
number of stems and heads of all sizes which it containod. 
On one occasion during a short calm, half-way between the Tortugas 
and the eastern edge of the Yucatan Bank, I had an exoellent oppor- 
tunity of seeing a number of Globigerine and Orbiculine alive. They 
were swarming near the surface, tho nucleus of a brilliant vermilion, 
in company with a host of Diphyes, Pteropods, Heteropods, masses of 
gulfweed, and the accompanying countless larvae of Crustacea, Mollusks, 
and Fishes, which inhabit this weed. 
Of course, during the cruise, careful soundings were taken with Cap- 
tain Sigsbee’s modification of Sir William Thomson’s sounding-machine, 
and bottom and surface temperatures with the Miller Casella thermome- 
ter were all carefully compared from time to time with a standard. No 
serial lines of temperature were taken, as they were cither already on 
hand, or were to be taken later in the season by Captain Sigsbeo in the 
course of his regular work after I had loft the “Blake.” We obtained 
again, as had been found in. previous years, a uniform bottom tempera- 
ture of 393? Fahrenheit, below 600 to 700 fathoms. This uniform bot- 
tom temperature is undoubtedly connected with the depth to be found 
between the windward islands through which the cold waters of the At- 
lantic, from similar depths, force their way slowly northward, first into 
the Caribbean Sea, and then into the Gulf of Mexico, through the Straits 
of Yucatan, An additional series of observations over a careful line of 
soundings across these various inlets would be interesting, as affording, 
in connection with the line to be run by Captain Sigsbee across the 
Straits of Yucatan, means of comparison with the temperatures of the 
