THE NAUTILUS. 



VOL. ix. DECEMBER, 1895. No. 8 



NOTES OF A CONCHOLOGIST IN JAPAN. 



BY JOHN B. HENDERSON, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



It was ray good fortune to accompany the Hon. John W. Foster 

 on his diplomatic mission to Japan and China last winter. Official 

 duties and the disabilities placed upon me by a suspicious military 

 guard prevented me from doing very much collecting, although I 

 eagerly seized such few opportunities that came my way to gather 

 in the tempting array of mollusks that generally seemed near at 

 hand. 



There can be no more delightful country in the world to collect 

 in than Japan. The natives are always pleasant and courteous and 

 often show a disposition to assist. Even my solemn escort at times 

 so far forgot pride and dignity as to remove their swords and wade 

 in the mudrly rice fields to capture the " dobukai." Land and fresh- 

 water shells are abundant almost anywhere. The mountain sides 

 are especially rich iu that variable Helicid group of Eulota (Eu- 

 hadra) luhuana, its many forms and varieties. Clausilias cluster 

 together in old stumps, and the rice fields fairly swarm with Corbi- 

 cula, Vivipara and Melania. One rainy day at Nikko, a coolie 

 brought me a branch of mulberry, upon which seventeen fine speci- 

 mens of Euhadra brandti were crawling. 



The only marine collecting I could do was at Shimonoseki, and in 

 the neighborhood of Nagasaki. Both these localities are delight- 



