THE NAUTILUS. 31 



Revere, Mass. Mr. Roper is now in Pasadena, Cal. He was one of 

 the founders of our chapter. One of his contributions to the Trans- 

 actions of the chapter in its early days was an interesting paper on 

 " Studies in the Genera Sphserium and Pisidium," in 1889. 



Mr. J. J. White, of Rockledge, Florida, has gone to Frankfort, 

 Mich, for the summer months. The Vol. of Transactions should be 

 sent to him at the latter address. 



One of our valued members, in a letter, tells of a unique way in 

 which devil-fish are caught by some foreigners. The following is an 

 extract from the letter, written from San Diego County, Cal. ; " We 

 met two men and a woman, apparently Portuguese and from La 

 Playa, who were making a collection of devil-fish. One of the men 

 carried a pail of lime water, and when they came to a devil-fish 

 residence, he would pour half a pint or so of the lime water into the 

 hole, and await developments. And they would come every time, 

 too. It would be a very short time till the devil-fish would come 

 squirming out of his hole, to get away from the lime, and be picked 

 up by the men, thrown down on the rocks two or three times, until 

 he was partially stunned, and then put with his fellows in a pail 

 carried for the purpose. We watched the proceedings two or three 

 times, and G. asked what they were going to do with them ; ' eat 

 them, they are fine,' was the astounding answer. It sounded like 

 the biggest kind of a joke, but the people did not look or act so." 

 As the Chinese are said to eat these mollusks there is no doubt they 

 were in earnest. How they could locate the Octopus in each hole, 

 is, to the writer, a mystery. 



FLORIDA SHELLS. 



[Extract from the report of Mr. J. J. White. From the Transactions of the Isaac 



Lea Conchological Chapter for 1896.] 







Business calling me to Miami and Palm Beach in July, I deter- 

 mined not to let so fine an opportunity for collecting pass without 

 improving it. After concluding my business at Miami and Cocoa- 

 nut Grove, I started out to hunt for the beautiful Orthalicus undid us 

 Brug. and Liguus fasciatus Mull., but much to my regret was 

 soon compelled to stop my search on account of the myriads of 

 mosquitoes which infested the dense hummocks in which I was 

 searching. I only succeeded in finding three live Orthalicus and 

 one dead Liguus and some live Helix varians. Hoping for 



