412 A. EH. Verrill— Results of recent Dredging Expeditions 
tion of algee was made by Prof. D. C. Eaton and others. Prof. 
Baird, with several assistants, took direct charge of the fishes 
and fisheries, and made many cca discoveries. He also 
obtained a valuable collection. A more detailed account of 
these investigations will be Bi in a future article. 
During part of the month of September the Superintendent of 
the U. 8. Coast Survey offered Prof. Baird the use of the steamer 
Bache, Capt. Platt commanding, to continue the dredging opera- 
tions off the coast of Maine. This work was putin ae ce of Dr. 
. 8. Packard, as in 1878, and he was assisted by ooke 
and Mr. Robert Rathburn. They made dredgings at tia forty 
: a in the Gulf of Maine, off the coasts of Maine and New 
shire, at various de ths down to 125 fathoms. These 
Sieaittias may be conveniently grouped in five series. 
a. Several dredgings on hard bottoms, near the Isles of Shoals 
and on Jefirey’s Ledge, in 25-51 fathoms (see Nos. 44, 46, 
48, 77, 78). 
b. An interesting series of dredgings on oe Ledge, about 
90 s off Mt. Desert L, in 27 to 39* fathoms, hard and 
rocky bottoms. 
c. One dredging on a new bank, discovered by Capt. Platt, in 
32 fathoms, sandy Meise (No. 69 
d. Several dredgings in 86-48 fathoms, muddy bottoms, be- 
tween Cape Ann and the Isles of Shoals (Nos. 88-41, and 
78 in part). 
e. Numerous localities in 50 to 125 fathoms, muddy bottoms, 
including most of the localities not already mentioned, 
over a Wide area, both east and west of Jeffrey’s Ledge, 
and extending from No. 62 , off “Petaat uid, Me., to the 
deeper parts of the Gulf of Maine, south ‘ot Cashe’s Ledge. 
Hard bottoms.—The collections from the hard bottoms (in- 
cluded under a, },c) are much like those from similar an 
adjacent localities explored in 1878, of which nearly complete 
lists were publis in this Journal (vol. vii, p. 502, May, 
1874). Cashe’s Ledge, as before, proved to be a rich dredging 
ground, remarkable for large anseaters of rare northern species. 
Locality 78, in 35 fathoms, near Jeffrey’s Ledge, was, properly 
speaking, a ‘mixed bottom, mud predominating ; but the dredge 
brought up some stones and large quantities of masses of firmly 
consolidated ferruginous mud id sand, most of which were 
irregularly broken and curved pieces, but some had the form of 
large, slightly conical tubes, 8 to 6 inches in diameter, and 12 
to 15 inches ee the walls often being an inch or more thick. 
These are probably old uninhabited t he es of Cer/anthus borealis, 
which have — firmly consolidated by some chemical 
ee Upon these fragments of tubes numerous species of 
ozoa, Ascidians and Sponges had established themselves, 
