THE BERMUDAS AS A TYPE COLLECTING GROUND 
FOR INVERTEBRATES. 
H. A. CROSS, JR. 
Eighty hours from Chicago lands one at the wharf of Hamil- 
ton in the Bermuda Islands. Temporally these islands are near, 
although 700 miles southeast from New York, and 560 miles 
due east from Charleston, South Carolina. Topping the summit 
of a huge submarine mountain, built up by the secretion of 
corals, shifted, torn down, and stratified by the action of wind 
and wave, these islands project to the number of one hundred 
and fifty, forming nineteen square miles of land whose surface 
is a thin ten inch layer of red brown soil. In the aggregate, 
these islands assume the form of a fishhook. The portion neees- 
say to convert the fishhook into a complete oval is filled with 
sea gardens containing many forms of Gorgonacea and other 
garden fauna. These gardens lie at varying distances under 
the surface, making collection with nippers and chisel easy, 
while on a smooth day collecting may be accomplished without 
the aid of instruments. The Gulf Stream two hundred and fifty 
miles to the north imparts to the islands a semi-tropical climate, 
with a mean temperature of 72°, a maximum of 86°, and a mini- 
mum of 58°. As a consequence, we find a semi-tropical or sub- 
tropical fauna on a parallel of thirty-two degrees, the point 
farthest north in the Atlantic where such can be found. 
As a collecting ground, the Bermudas, as they are called, 
present many advantages to the midwestern man. 
For two hundred dollars the trip can be made to and from 
Chicago, with a stopover of six weeks on the islands. As stated 
before, transportation takes but little time, and facilities for 
the same are very good. 
Harvard University maintains a biological station there the 
year round. Two years ago but little literature was available at 
the station. Since that time they have put a man in charge per- 
manently and undoubtedly the literature at the present time 
covers more ground. The library at Hamilton affords a set of 
Reports of the Challenger Expedition which is of great value. 
The increasing number of publications made by the summer 
