296 BULLETIN OF THE 



shows pretty conclusively that the group, with the exceptiou of Echi- 

 nocyamus, is an eminently littoral one. A large collection of Comatulse 

 was made, and a number of specimens of Rhizocrinus were obtained, 

 but only a few were in pei-fect condition. Of Holopus only a part of 

 a specimen was found. It was collected off Montserraf, and escaped my 

 attention, although, of course, on the lookout for black Holopus, I did 

 not notice this imperfect whitish specimen, which must have been alive, 

 among the numerous Pentacrini with which it came up. Our collection 

 of Pentacrini is quite extensive; we found them at MontseiTat, St. Vin- 

 cent, Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Barbadoes, in several places, in such 

 numbers that on one occasion we brought up no less than one hundred 

 and twenty-four at a single haul of the bar and tangles. We must, of 

 course, have swept over actual forests of Pentacrini crowded together 

 much as we find the fossil Pentacrini on slabs. Our series is now suffi- 

 ciently extensive to settle satisfactorily the number of species of the 

 genus found in the "West Indies. There are undoubtedly the two species 

 which have thus far been recognized. It is evident that they vary 

 greatly in appearance, P. Mulleri being the most variable. I have 

 nothing to add to the general description of their movements given by 

 Captain Sigsbee in my second letter, with the exception of their use of 

 the cirri placed along the stem. These they move more rapidly than 

 the arms, and use them as hooks to catch hold of neighboring objects, 

 and, on account of their sharp extremities, they are well adapted to 

 retain their hold. The stem itself passes slowly from a rigid vertical 

 attitude to a curved or even drooping position. We did not bring up a 

 single specimen showing the mode of attachment of the stem. Several 

 naturalists, on the evidence of large slabs containing fossil Pentacrini, 

 where no basal attachment could be seen, have come to the conclusion 

 that Pentacrini might be free, attaching themselves temporarily by the 

 cirri of the stem, much as Comatula) do. I am informed, however, by 

 Captain E. Cole, of the telegraph steamer " Investigator," that he has 

 frequently brought up the West India telegraph cable on which Pen- 

 tacrini were attached, and that they are fixed, the basal extremity of 

 the stem spreading slightly, somewhat after the manner of Holopus, 

 so that it requires considerable strength to detach them. 



The collection of Ophiurans is perhaps the largest ever made. They 

 seem to play a very important part in determining the facics of a fauna. 

 They occur everywhere, at all depths, and often in countless numbers. 

 I hardly think we made a single haul which did not contain an Ophi- 

 uran. They often came up when tlie trawl brought nothing else. In 



