60 BULLETIN OF THE 



(1,127 fathoms), namely, 39^° 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 Bernini 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 hlies 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 

 grotind 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 Pourtal^s and 

 Dr. Stimpson in the United States Coast Survey steamer " Bibb ": — 



" The collection embnu^es material from three bathymetrieal regions, which 

 are more or less mixed throughout. 



" I. The Pteropods and HuttTopods from the surface of the sea, which are 

 found mixed with most of the others from whencesoevcr derived. 



" 11. The shore fauna of the Gulf and Caribbean region, which in most re- 



