296 BULLETIN OF THE 
shows pretty conclusively that the group, with the exception of Echi- 
nocyamus, is an eminently littoral one. A large collection of Comatulee 
was made, and a number of specimens of Rhizocrinus were obtained, 
but only a few were in perfect condition. Of Holopus only a part of 
a specimen was found. It was collected off Montserrat, and escaped my 
attention, although, of course, on the lookout for black Holopus, I did 
not notice this imperfect whitish specimen, which must have been alive, 
among the numerous Pentacrini with which it came up. Our collection 
of Pentacrini is quite extensive; we found them at Montserrat, St, Vin- 
cent, Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Barbadoes, in several places, in such 
numbers that on one occasion we brought up no less than one hundred 
and twenty-four at a single haul of the bar and tangles. We must, of 
course, have swept over actual forests of Pentacrini crowded together 
much as we find the fossil Pentacrini on slabs. Our series is now suffi- 
ciently extensive to settle satisfactorily the number of species of the 
genus found in the West Indies. There are undoubtedly the two species 
which have thus far been recognized. It is evident that they vary 
greatly in appearance, P. Mülleri being the most variable, I have 
nothing to add to the general description of their movements given by 
Captain Sigsbee in my second letter, with the exception of their use of 
the cirri placed along the stem. These they move more rapidly than 
the arms, and use them as hooks to catch hold of neighboring objects, 
and, on account of their sharp extremities, they are well adapted to 
retain their hold. The stem itself passes slowly from a rigid vertical 
attitude to a curved or even drooping position. We did not bring up a 
single specimen showing the mode of attachment of the stem. Several 
naturalists, on the evidence of large slabs containing fossil Pentacrini, 
where no basal attachment could be scen, have come to the conclusion 
that Pentacrini might be free, attaching themselves temporarily by the 
cirri of the stem, much as Comatule do. I am informed, however, by 
Captain E. Cole, of the telegraph steamer “ Investigator," that he has 
frequently brought up the West India telegraph cable on which Pen- 
tacrini were attached, and that they are fixed, the basal extremity of 
the stem spreading slightly, somewhat after the manner of Holopus, 
so that it requires considerable strength to detach them. 
The collection of Ophiurans is perhaps the largest ever made. They 
seem to play a very important part in determining the facies of a fauna, 
They occur everywhere, at all dopths, and often in countless numbers. 
I hardly think we made a single haul which did not contain an Ophi- 
uran. They often came up when the trawl brought nothing else, In 
