MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 57 
the Mississippi, in depths of from 118 to 600 fathoms, a number of inter- 
esting forms of Fishes, of Annelids, of Mollusks, of Ophiurans, and Sea- 
Urchins. The hauls in deeper water, off the Mississippi, yielded no 
specimens of importance. Throughout this last cruise we obtained, 
below 500 fathoms, the forms characteristic of deep water in all the 
deeper basins of the ocean, the more special or faunal species occurring 
at a lesser depth. 
The new dredges improvised in Key West by Captain Sigsbee and 
Mr. Jacobi worked very satisfactorily, and were a great improvement 
on the old model, obviating completely the defects referred to in my 
last letter. The double trawl also worked admirably, obviating all 
fouling, and doing away with the frequent delays so annoying when the 
ordinary single-beam trawl is used in deep water. 
The steel-wire rope continued to give excellent satisfaction, and we 
experienced fewer mishaps from causes connected with our rope than 
any other deep-sea dredging expedition. The uniform success attending 
our use of this rope during the past season enables me to recommend 
it to any future deep-sea dredging expedition as an economy of space, 
time, and money, for our rope occupied about one ninth of the space re- 
quired by a hemp rope, and was, at the end of the cruise, as good as 
when we first left Key West. 
There still remain many minor improvements, suggested by the use 
of the steel-wire rope, which would facilitate the working of the dredge 
or trawl, but not greatly increase their efficiency. Much still remains 
to be done, for instance in the way of a perfect accumulator. The 
accumulator devised by Captain Sigsbee consisted of a series of spiral 
steel springs capable of withstanding a strain of 4,000 pounds, these 
springs moved upon an iron rod; the accumulator was lashed vertically 
to the foremast, the play of the accumulator, some six feet, being trans- 
mitted to a large iron sheave over which the wire rope played. This 
iron sheave was suspended from a boom fastened by a swivel to the foot 
of the foremast, and projecting over the starboard bow far enough for 
the dredge or trawl to clear the side of the vessel. The steamer was 
invariably backed while dredging, our operations being all carried on at 
the bow. Of course, in a small vessel like the “Blake,” a moderate sea 
soon made it not only difficult to dredge, but also endangered greatly all 
our dredging gear from the rapid rolling or pitching to which the aceu- 
mulator could not respond promptly enough, It seems very doubtfal 
if the accumulators used thus far are a great safeguard against accidents, 
While dredging, what is going on at the bottom can readily be ascer- 
