A number of varieties have been recorded by Tryon and others 

 based on the coloration and marking, but many of these are not strong. 

 In works that I have examined no figures show this extreme form. In 

 the variety the aperture is less rounded than those of the typical shell. 

 The radulas were not preserved with the shells, and science must wait 

 for new specimens to ascertain what difference, if an}', extends to the 

 dentition. 



Fig. i represents the typical and fig. 2 the variety hurnerosus, natural 

 size. All of the individuals are labeled Philippines. 



I am indebted to Mr. Enoch Bolles for the drawings which accom- 

 pany this article. 



Shells in City Gardens and Ponds 



BY S. C. WHEAT. 



In my garden in the heart of Brooklyn are innumerable Vallonia 

 pulcJiclla Miillcr. I have taken fifty good specimens from a space four 



inches square. In midwinter sixteen were found packed in a bit of 

 hollow stem of a plant, the shells fitting snugly in the orifice, and all 



occupying a little more than an inch in length. In November I have 

 found them active under a half-inch of frozen earth and snow. One 

 of these beautiful creatures took its winter nap from October to March 

 on the stem of a tropical tree in my window, where the sun blazed 

 upon it for three hours every bright morning without once moving. 



These specimens are all of the smooth variety. Twelve shells placed 

 side by side cover a line one inch in length. They are more abundant 

 near houses than in large fields. 



In a foundation from which a house was burned several years ago 

 a prosperous colony of Vitrea ccllaria M filler were found; also many 

 fine specimens in a heap of coal ashes in the back yard of a tenement 

 in a crowded part of Manhattan. This beautiful creature in its pure 

 glistening shell has a liking for the dark corner of the cellar where 

 the cask of Burgundy is stored. 



Under stones in a vacant lot were several fine Zonltoidcs arborcus 



Say. Eight years before, the last forest trees had been removed from 

 this block and for fifteen years it had been surrounded by paved streets 

 and blocks of brick houses. 



Where forest trees still shade a vacant lot Polygyi'a tJiyroidcs Say 

 is still found. 



I have fine specimens of Liuinaca anricnlaria Linnaeus, Planorbis 

 trirolris Say and a Physa from an artificial lily-pond in Prospect Park, 

 Brooklyn. The same shells have been found in private grounds in 

 the vicinity. 



Anodonta implicata Say is found in the large lake in Prospect Park. 



6 



