NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM. 125 



catalogue are those most carefully elaborated by the Rev. A. M. 

 Norman, and proposed by him in a valuable paper published in 

 1865.* Unfortunately, other duties have prevented Mr. Norman 

 from giving us the concluding paper on the Echinoidea and Holo- 

 thuroidea then promised. His recent paper on Shetland Echi- 

 nodermsf in part fills up this blank, although a local list, however 

 good, cannot prove so valuable to the student as a monograph ; 

 let us hope Mr. Norman may yet find time to conclude what he 

 so ably planned and partly carried out. Naturalists, familiar 

 only with the classification and nomenclature of Forbes, will 

 observe the difference of this system. As to its soundness, I 

 do not feel myself competent to decide ; but it may be asked, 

 why are Ophiothrix, Ophiocoma, Ophiopholis, and Amphiura (all 

 of which Forbes grouped together under the genus Ophiocoma), 

 placed between Antedon [Comatula of Forbes) and Ophiura, in- 

 stead of the last named genus immediately following Antedon 

 and the first named after Ophiura ? I cannot help thinking all 

 ends would have been served by leaving Ophiura where Forbes 

 placed it, and following on with the several genera formed out 

 of Ophiocoma. 



I have frequently to allude to the depth at which the various 

 species are found, and I find, on looking over what is here re- 

 corded, that thirty to forty-five fathoms is considered " deep 

 water." I would ask my readers to bear in mind, that on the 

 coast of Northumberland and Durham this is really deep water. 

 It is doubtful whether we could touch fifty-five fathoms between 

 our coast and the Dogger Bank. My remarks must therefore 

 necessarily have only a local meaning ; for after the recent deep 

 Atlantic dredgings, any dredging on our coast "in deep water" 

 sinks into insignificance. 



* On the Genera and Species of British Echinodermata. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 Series 3, Vol. XV., page 98. 



t Last report on dredging among the Shetland Isles. Brit. Ass. Report for 1868, p. 312. 



