May i, 1889.J THP TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
783 
EECENT ADDITIONS TO THE COLOMBO 
MUSEUM. 
Dbedgino Expedition to Mannas. 
We |have been favoured by Mr. Haly, the Di- 
rector of the Colombo Museum, with the following 
particulars respecting the recent additions to the 
Colombo Museum : — 
Colombo Museum, April 13th, 1889. 
In answer to your inquiries with regard to the 
success of my dredging expedition to Mannar, I 
am sorry to say that I have little information to 
give you. The specimens obtained were mostly 
small species which will require to be carefully 
looked through, and I have had as yet no time 
to do so. 
I had two principal objects : 1st to obtain a 
second perfeot species of the great star fish Luidia 
maculata, which I could mount in fluid (the 
Museum has a very fine dried specimen which I 
procured some years ago), and 2nd to compare the 
fauna of the great flat that runs from Colombo 
to Mannar with that of the strait between Karait- 
tivu island and the mainland. 
With regard to the first point, I was unsuccessful. 
This magnificent starfish is as far as I yet know 
only to be found on the beach in the south coast 
of Mannar. Here you may see fine specimens 
washed up ; but nearly always in such a state 
as to be unfit for preservation as the crea- 
ture has a habit of breaking itself into small 
pieces when uncomfortable. I never suoceeded 
but once in getting a good specimen, and 
the handling and preservation of that was a 
work of much difficulty. On this occasion I took 
a cross between trawl and dredge of my own in- 
vention which does not collect the sand and mud 
in the way the ordinary dredge does ; but I was 
most unfortunate. The star fish was caught in 
abundance of all sizes when the ordinary dredge 
was down ; but I could never get on their ground 
when the trawl was down. Brought up buried in 
a heavy mass of sand the specimens were always 
broken to pieces and nothing could be done with them. 
This may at first sight appear very extraordi- 
nary ; but there is nothing remarkable about it 
to anyone accustomed to dredge on the coasts 
of Ceylon. Species of all classes of animals lie 
close together, the first haul of the dredge per- 
haps brings up three or four dozen corbeles (which 
by the bye are excellent eating), then a great 
quantity of sponges, then the net is full of some 
small crab ; the next hawl perhaps has a number 
of fine Nudibranchiata in it and so on all day 
long. Thus_ the chances against procuring a par- 
ticular species in any given hawl are v^'iy gr^n. L 
With regard to the comparison of the fauna 
of the coast generally and of the^araittivu strait, 
I was not so successful as I could have wished. 
The ship, a native brigantine manned or rather 
greatly overmanned with a Hindu crew, had 
no cargo and scarcely any ballast ; the consequence 
was that it was only with the gentlest breeze 
that the dredger could be made to keep in the 
bottom, however much rope might be paid out, 
However the coast from Mannar to Tallaiman- 
nar was well explored and the coast south of 
Mannar to Karaittivu fairly well. We were nearly 
wrecked off Dutch Bay and in trying to dredge in 
the deep water off Kalpitiya all the nets were 
torn to pieces by coral rock, and I could not get 
them mended before I reached Negombo, and then 
our time was nearly up. 
A glance at the Admiralty chart will show that 
a great plateau runs far out at sea off Colombo 
to within a mile or two of the coast of Kalpitiya ; 
it then runs out in a deepourve towards the north 
to Adam's Bridge, so that for twenty miles south off 
Tallaimannar it is impossible to get above 5 or (t 
fathoms of water ; between Colombo and Kalpitiya 
the water is not quite so shallow, 10 to 20 fathoms 
being about the ordinary depth at some miles from 
shore (lam open to correction not having the chart 
with me). I expeoted to find in these shallow 
northern waters a rich fauna allied to that of 
the Karaittivu strait. The peculiarity of this strait 
at least near the north point of Karaittivu is the 
abundance of two fine species of star fish Oreaster 
turritus', a species with strong vermilion coloured 
spines and Oreaster orUutalis, a species so variable 
that it is almost impossible to find two specimens 
alike. Of the first 0. turritus I only procured 
one specimen, and that was in 9 fathoms of water 
off Negombo. This shows how the dredger may miss 
good things, for it is abundant on the pearl banks 
off Arippu, Captain Donnan having sent me many 
from there. I also saw them at Dutch Bay in the 
pearl kottus. Oreaster orientalis is abundant all the 
way north of Karaittivu ; but most so off Arippu ; 
but it does not, I fancy, attain to the size of those 
in the very shallow water of the straits. I also 
found eomatulas (feather stars), but not nearly in 
the abundance or of the beauty of those off Trinco- 
malee. However, I learnt the art of preserving 
them, and am therefore prepared for the Trinco- 
malee ones when I go there again. The nudi- 
branchiates were of extraordinary size and beauty 
especially on a patch just south of Arippu; but it 
is only sketches from life by an artist that can 
give any idea of these lovely molluscs. As for 
the rest, small crabs of the family Leucosiadce 
swarmed in the nets ; in fact they were generally 
alive with them. Small fishes were also tolerably 
abundant. One of these, a species of pegasus, I 
believe, will prove to be new to science, and most 
of them I expect will be new to the Museum 
collection. Shells were not abundant, chanks were 
the commonest, and there were a few com- 
mon olives; however, I have found nine or ten 
small species new to the collection already, and 
hope eventually to find more. The sponges are 
likely to prove of great interest, and are being re- 
served to be sent to some specialist. I also dried 
a number of specimens of mud and sand from 
various depths for Dr, Brady, who has lately pre- 
sented the Museum with a beautiful series of 
Foraminifera mounted for the microsope which 
he procured from sand dredged of Kalpitiya some 
years ago. 
+ 
THE USE OF OPIUM. 
[The following letters in the Standard of 29th 
March bears out what we have so often said 
about the use of opium in the Fen and other 
malarious districts of England. If we could only 
get the good people suffering from ague to take 
to quinine instead. All planters and others who 
have friends in the Fen districts ought to make the 
value of cheap quinine known Ed.] 
To the Editor of the " Standard." 
Sir, — With reference to Mr. W. J. Moore's letter in 
The Standard of today, it may interest your readers 
to know that there are many habitual opium-eaters 
much nearer than India. Opium has always been a 
favourite remedy for ague in the English Fen country, 
and, although malaria has very muoh diminished since 
the draining of the Fens the habit of opium-eating 
has remained with a great many people who are now 
getting into years. 
I have occasion frequently to see professionally 
some of these Euglish opium-eaters, and I cannot 
say that they are injured so much by the habit as 
one's reading on this subject would lead one to ex- 
pect. Many of them are seventy and some over 
eighty years of age, and mentally they are not inferior 
