THK NAUTILUS. 107 



an extensive Museum, whose director, Sr. Francisco Blanes, is an 

 ardent conchologist as well as a devout Christian. In fact, the 

 Museum owes many of its choicest collections to this generosity, and 

 in token of their appreciation the Trustees have given him a life 

 pension and made him honorary curator. 



In the court of the new Museum building Bulimulus sepulcliralis, 

 Poey and Ennea bicolor, Hutt., the latter introduced within the past 

 decade, had found a congenial home. 



At Matanzas I was the recipient of many courtesies. Dr. Luis 

 A. Cuni, Professor of Natural Sciences in the Institute de Matanzas, 

 gave me an automobile excursion through the beautiful Yumuri 

 Valley, which lies under the protecting care of the Palenque de 

 Matanzas, and its twin " loaf " the Pan de Matanzas. 1 We ascended 

 the San Juan river in a trim launch getting a magnificent view of 

 the verdant meadows and the palm-crested mountains. At the 

 Bellamar caves our guide was an old Cuban who claimed to be their 

 discoverer fifty years ago, and who seemed to be veritably a part of 

 their grotesque formations. With Dr. Valdez graciously serving as 

 interpreter, Dr. Cuni and I compared notes on Natural History, and 

 parted the best of friends. 



To the west of the city rises the Loma de Simpson. On its 

 summit is a hermitage the Ermita de Montserrate which preserves 

 a cherished memorial of Spanish ecclesiastical history. In this 

 revered situation I collected two interesting Urocoptids U. poeyana, 

 Orb., and U. ehgans, var. aiiberiana, Orb., and many beautiful 

 Liguus from the thorny hedges of the Evpltorlia? I reached the 

 crest of the hill in the early morning, and I shall not soon forget the 

 panorama of La Cumbre, the mountains set against the deepest of 

 blue skies, the Valle de Yumuri, a mighty garden of Royal Palms 

 and tropical flowers, nor the beautiful city itself, whose buildings in 

 dazzling white seemed to step down to the bay with stately tread. 

 The Bay of Matanzas is an aesthetic challenge ; not until you see for 

 yourself, my gentle reader, will you believe that it has mastered the 

 science of color and perfected the art of display. 



1 Both of these mountains are famous for their shells. Nothing is' more 

 attractive in the cabinet than a well selected series of Chondropoma presasianum, 

 Gundl., and Chondropoma irradians, Shutt., which can be collected on both 

 " pans." 



* Euphorbia lactea, Han. 



