L24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Feb., 



shells of their ancestors, accumulated in "graveyards," such as the 

 small cockpits, rifts and holes in the cliffs, and in the rock piles and 

 soil. The dead shells are also found in the soil of the cultivated and 

 cleared land, and may readily be obtained for comparison with the 

 living forms now confined to the isolated patches of virgin forest or 

 islands. The district is hence one well adapted to the study of the 

 variation which has taken place since the advent of cultivation in the 

 country. 



In a paper 1 published in these Proceedings by Pilsbry and Brown 

 a list of the species collected in this Mandeville district is given and the 

 exact localities at which I collected the species is recorded. Most 

 of these localities represent definite colonies, and all that are treated 

 of in this paper are isolated colonies. In order that the environment 

 under which the animals lived may be compared, descriptions of these 

 localities will be necessary. Of these Benmore woods, the King 

 Edward Hotel woods, Cedar Hill woods and Bloomfield are in the 

 limits of Mandeville Market ; Garrett's woods, Somerset Road 3 miles 

 north of Mandeville, Kendal Road, Ridge near Lincoln, and Somerset 

 are at some distance from the town. 2 



The Benmore Woods Colony. 



This woods covers a hill to the east of the Court House at Mande- 

 ville and about a quarter mile distant. It is practically virgin forest 

 on the west slope of the hill where collections were made and includes 

 an area of 6 or 8 acres, the woods extending dow r n to the bottom of the 

 hill on this side. The elevation ranges from 2,000 feet above sea level 

 to perhaps 2,150 feet. The limestone outcrops on the slope and is 

 the pure rock weathering into honeycombed and irregular forms. 

 Where collections were made the ground was moist, covered with a 

 thick coating of leaves and often of loose stones. The leaves fur- 

 nished abundant fungus food for the Pleurodonts. The shade was 

 dense and this helped to preserve the moist condition. Live Pleuro- 

 donte were plentiful, some had invaded the neighboring pasture, but 

 were mostly recorded by the dead shells found lying about. Collec- 

 tion was not extended to the hill-top, which was partly cleared and 

 much dryer. It was probably composed of the more impure limestone 

 seen on the top of the neighboring hill at King Edward Hotel. 



1 The Mollusca of Mandeville, Jamaica, and its Environs, by Henry A. Pilsbry 

 and Amos P. Brown, Proc. Acad. Nat. Set. Phila., 1910, pp. 510-535. 



2 See map, fig. 1, reproduced from the above paper. 



