28 REPORT — 1860. 



between the latter point and Bray Head, in each case including the banks for 

 seven miles off shore. 



Of these the following call for notice : — 



Bank 1. — The North Scallop bed lying about three miles off in district I. 

 It consists of pure sand. Ophiuridcc are very common ; Ophiocomidaz not 

 uncommon; Comatulidce scarce; Asteriada: not uncommon: one specimen 

 of Asterias rosea, Miiller (Cribella rosea, Forbes), occurred here. Other 

 Echinoderms rare ; Molluscs are rare ; Polyzoa and Tunicata are very com- 

 mon ; Crustacea, Decapoda, not uncommon, species few ; Amphipoda rare; 

 Cirrhipeda common ; Annelida are scarce ; and Polypifera very common. 

 It may be generally noted, however, as unprofitable ground. 



2. Within this a bank of Pleistocene fine sand of considerable extent, but 

 generally narrow in width : this contains very few living shells, but myriads 

 of dead shells, from which all their organic constituents have been absorbed, 

 and which are easily distinguished from the shells found in the next. 



3. The Shell Bank.— This, which I have only partially succeeded in tracing 

 out, is a curious belt of broken and living shells, the dead shells being easily 

 distinguished from those of the Pleistocene (Teleocene) beds. Many spe- 

 cies of Crustacea are here found ; Zoophytes are abundant in certain parts 

 of it ; Echinodermata are also common, chiefly Ophiocomida . Echinidce, 

 SipunculidcB, and Holothuriadce occur more rarely, at least to the dredge, as 

 the oval tentacles of the latter are frequently brought up. This bank is 

 most interesting, as it bears a close resemblance to the Turbot Bank of the 

 Belfast Dredging Committee, many of the shells being identical ; and one 

 remarkable coral, as yet only found in the north seas of Ireland, has been 

 detected in it by Mr. E. Waller (Sj)he?iotrochusWrightii). I have traced it 

 nearly the whole way across districts 2 and 3, though in some parts its 

 breadth is narrowed to a few yards; and it bears a constant l'elation to 

 Bank 2, which in district 3 is called the " Back." 



4. Shanganagh Bank, a shingly, muddy, sand oyster-bed, formed from the 

 influx of the river of the same name lying inside the Back in Killiney Bay. — 

 Here Eupagurus Icevis first occurred to me ; Asterias rosea, two specimens : 

 Holothuriada are not uncommon ; Zoophytes and Polyzoa not uncommon. 

 Of Mollusca some rare species occur here. 



5. Sorrento Bay. — This consists of dense gravelly sand. Here living 

 Molluscs are rare ; Nucida radiata occurs in some number, and very fine ; 

 and Annelids are not uncommon ; Crustacea, except Hyada, are rare. 



6. Dalkey Sound. — This district requires almo^ a special description 

 for itself, though not half a mile long, and barely a quarter of a mile broad, 

 and the depth of water in no place, according to the Chart, exceeding at 

 lowest spring tides 12 fathoms; yet species of every group are met with in 

 it, which are ordinarily reputed to be deep-sea species. I have taken in it, 

 and in it only, Ophidion imberbe, Pirimela denticulata, Hyas coarctatus, 

 Inachus dorynchus, Ebalia Pennantii, and many other species which else- 

 where have only occurred to me in 20-fathom water. In fact, the only spe- 

 cies wanting here are those for which I would propose the name of broad 

 sea species, such as Spatungus purpiireus, Eupagurus Icevis, Inachus Dor- 

 settensis, and Crangon Allmanni, none of which have ever occurred plenti- 

 fully except outside the " Back." I defer a full description of this district 

 until my final report, which I hope to present to the Association at their 

 next meeting. 



7. The Cnook, a bank about seven miles from land in an easterly 

 direction. — This consists of fine sand and large shells: Zoophytes are very 

 common ; Oysters and Scollops also abound. Here I met several species of 



