DEEP SEA DREDGING. 705 
new and pretty squid, and twenty new kinds of star-fish were taken. Of these 
star-fish thousands of specimens were netted, some of exceeding beauty. Quite 
a number of new species of corals were caught, some of them being brought up 
by the bushel. Of fan coral some beautiful specimens were obtained. Hundreds 
of sea anemones, brilliantly colored, some of them measuring a foot across, de- 
lighted the eyes of the men of science. One strange discovery was a worm inhab- 
iting a quill like a goose-quill. The quills were about a foot long, and soon after 
being taken out of the water grew so hard that they could be and were used for 
pens. They stood up in the mud at the bottom of the sea. The worms inside 
were opal-colored, and when taken out of their strange tenements glistened and 
presented a rather pretty appearance, so far as color was concerned. ‘They were 
raked up by thousands, and none of the scientific men ever heard of them before. 
The discovery was made that the tilefish is plentier than the cod. A Glouces 
ter fisherman last winter hauled in the first tilefish. Since then few have been 
caught. Prof. Verrill, however, caught three with a perpendicular trawl line. On 
opening their stomachs he found therein some of the rare crustaceze that abounded. 
thereabout, and he knew it was their feeding ground. He is satisfied that they 
are plentier there in season than codfish off Block Island. One of the fish caught 
weighed fifty pounds. ‘The tilefish, as described by Prof. Verrill, is a magnificent 
fish of a light, yellow-brown color, shaped like a sea-bass, and spotted all over 
with yellow. It is fine eating, and he is convinced that it is destined to becomea 
favorite market fish, now that it is known where it can be readily caught. 
All of the fish caught by the dredges have gone to the headquarters of the 
commission in Washington. The other specimens came here in many boxes a 
few days ago, and the work of arranging them is now being pushed forward. As 
many as one hundred series of the various specimens will be made up and dis 
tributed among the museums of the country, the first choice going to the National 
Museum at Washington, the second to the Peabody Museum here, the third to 
the museum at Cambridge, and soon. A complete and detailed report will also 
be made by the commission. 
The records of the temperature at different depths were always made with 
great care. Ata depth of from roo to 142% fathoms the temperature was usually 
from 51° to 53° Fahrenheit. From 142% to 325 fathoms it was from 42° to 43°, 
and at 500 fathoms it was 40°. The pressure at 500 fathoms or over was very 
great—sufficient to crush and press together the wood that incased the thermome- 
ter until it was a shapeless mass, and to so press the rope used to lower the instru- 
ment, that it came up hardened and squeezed together until it resembled a bar of 
metal. 
In the nine years the Fish Commission has been established it has dredged in 
2,000 localities (both shallow and deep waters), between Long Island Sound and 
Halifax, and out as far as 200 miles; but never before did they have such good 
luck as last month on the Fish Hawk.—lV. Y. Sun. 
