104< ECHINODEEMATA FROM THE EASTERN COAST OF SCOTLAND. 



Even wliere dredgers have not the power or desire to preserve 

 all the specimens they bring up from the deep, it would be ex- 

 ceedingly useful if they would sort out some of the more frequent 

 species, aud count the number lying before them : nowhere is it 

 more true than here that " science is measurement ;" aud no more 

 valuable piece of work could be done by those who are anxious 

 to assist in the formation of a complete catalogue of our own 

 seas. When a " few specimens from each station " are sent, it 

 is quite impossible to say whether a multitude of Asterias would 

 mean a scarcity of fishes or mollusks, or, as here, to direct atten- 

 tion to the fact that the station richest in A. violacea (Trawl 3) 

 has no representatives of the small Echinus elegans, and that that 

 Echinoid is commonest at another point (Dredge 4) where the 

 Starfish is conspicuous by its absence. On the other hand, ano- 

 ther Echinoid, Spatangus purpi^^eus, lives freely enough with the 

 Asterias ; for 175 specimens are reported by Dr. Day to have 

 been taken with Trawl 3. Indeed the region dredged over appears 

 to be a very Paradise for S. purpiireus, as might perhaps be ex- 

 pected from the sandy character of the bottom. 



Put in systematic fashion, we find the collection to consist of 

 18 species in all, viz. : — 



Echinus esculentus^ E. miliaris, and E. elegans. 



Strongylocentrotus drobachiensis. 



Echinocyamus pusillus. 



Spatangiis purpureus. 



Echinocardiumflavescens. 



Brissopsis lyrifera. Single specimen only. 



Asterias violacea and A. Muelleri. 



Stichaster roseus. Single specimen only. 



Solaster endeca. 



Cribrella oculata. 



Astropecten irregularis and A. penfacanthus ? (yg.). 



Luidia Sarsi. Single specimen only. 



Ophioglypha ciliata, and Ophiopholis aculeata. 



