MR ROBERT MACLAURIN'S LIST OF SHELLS. 



Sphcnia S \vainsomi (Munition) Solen cnsis (common} 



Anatina pulvMvns ( /-. rn iinnon) pellucidus (rare) 



Psammobia florida (not common) Iliatclla rugosa (not rare) 



Ferroensis (comanm) arctica (not common) 



Solen siliqua (common) Pholas crispata (very rare) 



Of the Pholas crispata I have seen a living- specimen, which is now 

 in the possession of Mr J. Duncan, Eyemouth. The whole of the 

 shells in the preceding 1 list have been found in a living- state, with the 

 exception of Area fusca, Pectunculus pilosus, Cardium laevigatum, 

 Mactra stultorum, Venus Cassina, and Mya truncata. They have 

 been procured principally from the fishermen's lines. The coast 

 where they live is very rugged, and very unfavourable to the growth 

 of such species as prefer quiet and sheltered sandy shores. We thus 

 rind, that the distribution of the Mollusca is quite characteristic of the 

 district. Donax trunculus, Tellina tenuis and solidula, Mactra stul- 

 torum, and Amphidesma compressa, which are abundant on every 

 sandy beach in the king-dom, are of comparatively rare occurrence 

 with us. A stripe of sand, a mile from the shore, runs east and west 

 from St Abbs. This abounds with Mactra solida and elliptica, Cras- 

 sina compressa, Lucina radula, Tellina crassa, Pecten obsoletus, 

 Cardium edule, Cytherea exoleta, Solen siliqua and ensis. 



Beyond this, and extending many miles in breadth, the bottom of 

 the sea consists entirely of mud, or of mud and sand. This habitat, 

 though far from being so rich in species as the former, is preferred by 

 Venus decussata and perforans, Mya truncata, Lutraria elliptica, 

 and Modiolus vulgaris, which last obtains a great size, frequently 

 growing seven inches long. 



As we go farther from the shore the mud disappears, and we come 

 to a rocky bottom which is adjacent to the cod banks. In this situa- 

 tion we find Cardium echinatum, Cyprina Islandica, Venus cassina, 

 &c. The cod banks are the abode of Pecten maximus and opercu- 

 laris, together with many species which abound in the first-men- 

 tioned bed. 



ROTTBOLLIA INCURVATA, var. filiformis. This grass has been 

 found on the Links beyond Goswick, N. Durham, plentifully, by 

 Miss E. Bell and Miss Hurten. 



ERRATA in last No. of Transactions of Berwickshire Naturalists' 



Club. 



Page 180, line 3 and 4 from top, for perhaps read particularly 

 ... 187, line 23, for right read oblique 

 ... 187, line 40, for chance of obstruction, read chain of obstructions, 



