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Treasury Department: U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.---This Survey has afforded many opportunities for natural history explorations upon all of the coast regions of the United States, and much pioneer work in deep-sea dredging has been successfully accomplished. Most of the dragging work on the eastern and southern coasts of the States was conducted under the supervision, first of Prof. Louis Agassiz, and later, of Mr. Alexander Agassiz, the latter having defrayed nearly all of the immediate expenses of such work in recent years, and the results have naturally gone to the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, at Cambridge, where they are being worked up. As soon as each collection is reported upon, however, a suit of specimens is turned over to this Museum. The results of all the explorations on the western coast, including Alaska, have been deposited at once in the National Museum.

Deep-sea dredging on the eastern coast was inaugurated May 17, 1867, in the region of the Gulf Stream of the southern coast of Florida, by the steamer Corwin, Count L. F. De Pourtales being in charge of the dredging operations. Yellow fever soon breaking out on board the steamer, but few dredgings were made the first season, in depths of 90 to 350 fathoms; but “the highly interesting fact was discovered that animal life exists at great depths, in as great a diversity and as great an abundance as in shallow water. The same series of dredgings was continued during 1868 and ‘69, in the Florida straits between Cape Florida and the Tortugas, and was carried down to a depth of 700 fathoms. During 1871 and ‘72, took place the cruise of the steamer Hassler, from the Atlantic Coast to San Fransisco, via the straits of Magellan, with Prof. Louis Agassiz and a party of naturalists on board. In 1872, ‘73 and ‘74, for a short period each summer, the steamer