506 



EEV. E. BOOG WATSON ON THE 



MOLLUSCA OF H.M.S. ' CHALLENGER ' EXPEDITIOK 



I. Preliminary Eeport to Prof. Sir C. Wtville Thomson, F.E,S., 

 Director of the Civilian Scientific Staff, on the Mollnsca 

 dredged during the Exploring Yojage. By the Eev. Eobebt 

 BooG Watson, B.A., F.E.S.E., F.L.S., f'&.S. 

 [Published by permission of the Lords Commisioners of the Treasury.] 

 [Read November 21, 1878.] 



To begin at once the publication of the IVIollusca of the * Challen- 

 ger,' however undesirable in many ways, is a necessity if the 

 whole is to be overtaken in reasonable time. 



The mass of material which has come into my hands is enor- 

 mous. 



In the end of 1876 (Nov. 17) there were sent me two large 

 boxes of shells containing very many smaller ones, each labelled 

 with note of locality whence their contents came ; and in the 

 beginning of 1878 (Jan. 17) of additional material there came 

 into my hands 48 boxes, chiefly small, of shells, 131 bottles, 

 large and small, and 45 tubes containing the shells with the 

 animals preserved in spirit, and 36 bottles of miscellaneous 

 dredgings, some dry, some in spirit. 



My first duty was to arrange all the distinct shells, separating 

 the species, putting each species from each locality in a box by 

 itself, and marking on each the name of the genus and of the 

 species, where possible, with note of the station whence it came 

 and other information likely to be useful. The admirable accuracy 

 with which the material from each locality had been kept apart 

 and labelled made this possible. 



Then under each station a catalogue of the genera and species 

 belonging to it had to be drawn out, with general index to the 

 whole. 



Having thus cleared off" the more manageable part of the mass, 

 the dry miscellaneous dredgings had next to be sifted through sieves, 

 and the shells, most of them, of course, very small, to be picked out 

 and then sorted, as had been done with the others. Of this a good 

 deal is still imperfectly done. 



Finally, the wet miscellaneous dredgings, i. e. those preserved 

 in spirit, have to be similarly treated. This is a very much more 

 troublesome task, and has not yet been fully done. Further, 

 I am still in arrears with the individual specimens preserved 



