THREE CRUISES OF THE BLAKE 177 



On the line from Tortugas to the Yucatan Bank, he 

 first obtained magnificent specimens of a bright scarlet 

 Gnathophausia, together with some gorgeously colored 

 eyeless Macrurans. Here he also secured several species 

 of remarkable deep-sea Holothurians, similar to those 

 obtained by the Challenger off the coast of Portugal ; 

 these species appear like large masses of jelly bril- 

 liantly striped with deep crimson bands, with the mouth, 

 which forms a kind of foot, placed on the lower side. 



On one occasion, during a short calm, he had an ex- 

 cellent opportunity of seeing a number of Globigerinse 

 and Orbiculinse alive. They were swarming near the 

 surface, the nucleus of a brilliant vermilion, in com- 

 pany with a host of Diphyes, pteropods, heteropods, 

 masses of gulfweed, and the accompanying countless 

 larvse of Crustacea, mollusks, and fishes which inhabit 

 this weed. 



On the last series of lines from Tortugas to the Miss- 

 issippi, Agassiz found that the deep-water fauna on 

 the western slope of the Florida Bank corresponds with 

 that of the eastern slope of the Bank of Yucatan, and 

 that this deep-water fauna extends over the bottom of 

 the Gulf of Mexico as far as the Mississippi slope, where, 

 owing to the presence of dark, rich mud, the fauna 

 materially changes its character. Here they obtained an 

 interesting collection of fishes, worms, mollusks, ophi- 

 urans, and sea-urchins. 



When Agassiz left the Blake at New Orleans he felt 

 it must have been a great relief to the officers, more 

 particularly to the executive officer, Lieutenant Ackley, 

 to be able to get the Blake into an orderly condition 

 again. For during the whole period that Agassiz spent 

 on board, no routine was allowed to interfere with his 



