12 



assorted and arranged according to orders. The bottles have 

 all been thoroughly cleaned, and alcohol changed when neces- 

 sary. The critical study and determination of specimens have 

 only been begun. A small number of contributions from out- 

 side have been received. There have been sent from this col- 

 lection^ 1. All the Lumbricidse to M. Perrier ; 2. All Vermes 

 of the Hassler Expedition to Professor Ernst Ehlers, also those 

 of the " Blake " Expedition. 



During the winter of 1877 to 1878 from December to March, 

 I was invited by the Superintendent of the United States Coast 

 Survey to join the steamer " Blake," and carry on extensive 

 dredging operations in deep water in the Straits of Florida, the 

 Yucatan Channel, and in the Gulf of Mexico. A preliminary 

 account of this first expedition will be found in Bulletins No. 1 

 and 6 of Vol. V., two letters addressed to the Superintendent 

 of the Coast Survey on the results of the expedition, and the 

 disposition made of the collections for publication. I may add 

 that the " Blake " is fitting out for a new cruise to the West 

 Indies, and that I shall again be allowed to join her, and con- 

 tinue the work so successfully commenced. Mr. Garman 

 accompanied me in the " Blake." Although I have in my 

 letters acknowledged my indebtedness to the officers of the 

 ''Blake," I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without 

 reiterating my thanks for their interest in my work, and more 

 specially to Captain C. D. Sigsbee, to whom so much of the 

 success during our last cruise is due. 



During the early part of 1877, I spent a couple of months at 

 Edinburgh, at the invitation of Sir Wyville Thomson, who 

 was kind enough to ask me to assist him in assorting the mag- 

 nificent collections made by the "Challenger " for distribution 

 among the different specialists who were to take charge of them. 

 Sir Wyville Thomson generously proposed to allow two of the^ 

 collections, the Echini and the Ophiuridse, to come to this coun- 

 try ; and these collections are now safely deposited in the Mu- 

 seum, where Mr. Lyman and myself are preparing the Reports 

 on tlie Ophiurida3 and the Echini. Mr. Lyman is now printing 

 a Preliminary Report on the Ophiuridse, accompanied by ten 

 plates. I have made fair progress with the text of the Echini, 

 and thirty lithographic plates are nearly finished for the final 

 Report. 



