60 BULLETIN OF THE 
(1,127 fathoms), namely, 394° Fahrenheit. The depth of the channel 
through which the water of the Gulf finds its outlet is very much less, 
— not more than 350 fathoms, — and the Straits of Bemini are not half 
the width of the Straits of Yucatan, while the temperature of the water 
at the bottom is much higher, with a far greater velocity at the surface 
than that of the current flowing into the Gulf of Mexico through the 
Straits of Yucatan. : 
Extract from Letter of Lieutenant Commander C. D. Sigsbee to A. Agassiz, 
* On the first of April we put to sea again [from Havana] ; we steamed about 
one and a half miles from the Morro (East), and at the third haul in 177 
fathoms, from disintegrated coral rock bottom, up came six beautiful “sea 
lilies.” Some of them came up on the tangles, some on the dredge. They 
were as brittle as glass, The heads soon curled over and showed a decided 
disposition to drop off. At a haul made soon after we got more, and being 
afraid to put so many of them in the tank together, I tried to delude the ani- 
mals into the idea that they were in their native temperatures by putting them 
into ice-water. This worked well, although some of them became exasperated 
and shed some of their arms. They lived in the ice-water for two hours, until 
I transferred them to the tank. They moved their arms one at a time. Some 
of the lilies were white, some purple, some yellow ; the latter was the color 
of the smaller and more delicate ones. All the sea lilies were obtained from 
the same place. 
“At a point on the coast about one and a half miles to the eastward of 
Morro, there are the ruins of two detached houses one hundred yards apart and 
near the shore. Bring either of these houses to bear S. S. E. in 175 fathoms 
of water and dredge ; sea lilies are bound to come." 
In addition to the Pentacrini, Captain Sigsbee obtained from the same 
ground a most interesting addition to the species collected previously, 
especially among the Echini, Ophiurans, and Corals. 
The following report of the Mollusca by Mr. W. H. Dall of the United 
States Coast Survey gives the results of a preliminary examination of 
the mollusks obtained during the cruise of the United States Coast 
Survey steamer “Blake” in the Gulf of Mexico and vicinity, with some 
others from the same region obtained formerly by Count Pourtalés and 
Dr. Stimpson in the United States Coast Survey steamer “ Bibb”: — 
“The collection embraces material from three bathymetrical regions, which 
are more or less mixed throughout. 
“I, The Pteropods and Heteropods from the surface of the sea, which are 
found mixed with most of the others from whencesoever derived. 
“II. The shore fauna of the Gulf and Caribbean region, which in’ most re- 
