40 A DREDGING EXCURSION. 



covered with minute green spines. Not very often that is 

 found. 



5. Our conchologist is in an ecstacy ; he has had the 

 sweepings of all, and he is delighted. He has specimens and 

 duplicates of many sorts that he almost despaired of getting ; 

 but his greatest delight will be to find a Galeoma turtoni, 

 a small white shell, like a boat amongst the debris ; and his 

 stock includes Oyster, Pecten, Cockle, Dentalium, Limpets of 

 various sorts, Razor, several species of Mactra, Cowries, 

 Chiton, Scaphander lignarius, and many others to employ 

 him in his leisure hours to identify and classify. Amongst 

 the lot of garbage left we find that we have several sorts of 

 star fish from \ inch to twenty inches across, and of different 

 shapes, although of the same family. We have the large 

 Asterias that is often found twenty inches across, also the 

 commonest JJ raster Rubens with five points. The fishermen 

 desire to extirpate the large Asterias, because it always gets 

 into their lobster pots ; with this laudable object in view they 

 tear them limb from limb and throw them over, but they 

 reckon without knowledge, as they simply make one star into 

 five as each part grows, and has a separate existence, and a 

 set of four legs grow on to the existing one. If we have been 

 able to save a brittle star, an examination of him under the 

 microscope will be found a very interesting study. We have 

 also found a lot of different sponges, but as these are a very 

 complicated family, and require a separate study, I shall 

 simply say hand them over to the professor who takes that 

 branch to decide by the number of hooks and triangles in 

 their composition to what species they belong. 



Having now cleared the table of specimens and swept up 

 the debris, I retire. 



