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8 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 
the launch going ahead unreeled the 300 ft. of line into the 
water until it was very nearly taut, when the operator of the 
launch dropped the anchor at the free end. For the purpose 
of temporarily anchoring the john-boat while the line was 
being payed out, one of the bars, usually that one to be placed 
to the rear, was at favorable opportunity, dropped into the 
water in such a way that it laid at right angles with the shore, 
and dragged parallel to it. When it had touched bottom, it 
was secured into position by means of props and by knotting 
its rope around one of the uprights. As shortly thereafter 
as the boat had swung into a favorable position as to render 
less liable the entangling of the hooks of the bars, the re- 
maining bar was dropped and secured likewise. 
After the anchor was dropped and the bars properly played, 
one of the two operators in the john-boat, windlassed the 
latter- by slow and steady turns up to the point where the 
anchor had been dropped, observing from time to time the 
relative apparent motion of the shore line to make certain 
that snagging or fouling of the bars was not causing the 
john-boat to pull the anchor towards it in the meantinie. 
When such was found to be the case, the bars were pulled up, 
the catch discarded, and a new trial made. When the john- 
boat had been properly windlassed up to the anchor, the 
latter and the bars were pulled up, the mussels taken off the 
hooks and thrown into a tub. The launch then towed the 
john-boat back to the original starting place, when this pro- 
cedure was repeated twice again for each locality, the mussels. 
obtained from the 3 trials being counted together. Dead 
shells obtained were not recorded. 
The use of the dredge has already been indicated to some 
extent. Mature mussels caught in it were included among 
those obtained as previously described. The residue of the net 
was then examined. After the gravel and larger biological 
specimens which could be easily seen were removed by hand, 
the remainder was then screened in the water through sieves 
of varying fineness, until the juvenile mussels which were 
especially sought could be picked out by hand. Juveniles were 
also obtained from masses of water weed pulled up by the 
crowfoot bars and the dredge. The larger number of them 
