NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 247 



months in a jar containing less than two gills of water, without 

 visible food, or apparent deterioration in the condition of the 

 animal. 



Mr Haughton, quoting Dr John Davy, says; — "That the migra- 

 tory species of fishes, such as the salmon and sea-trout, which 

 attain their growth and become in a high condition in the sea — 

 there abundantly feeding and accumulating adipose matter, though 

 not always abstaining in fresh water, which they enter chiefly for 

 the purpose of breeding — ^are at least capable of long abstinence 

 there without materially suffering." 



That they do suffer, however, to a considerable extent is evi- 

 dent, both in the case of the salmon and herring, by the spent 

 state they are in at the time of spawning. 



It is not unlikely that the greater part of the food taken by the 

 herring may assimilate and go to improve the condition of the 

 fish. Entomostraca, apparently their chief food, are exceedingly 

 rich in fatty matter. Quantities of oil may be seen floating on 

 the surface of the water that a number of them have been newly 

 confined in, and must aff'ord a highly nutritious and concentrated 

 meal. But that they should abstain less or more as the breeding 

 season advances, when their demand for food is apparently 

 greatest, is a problem that may be hard to solve. 



II. — On the Didrihdion of the Helicidm in Bute and in the VicinUy 

 of Largs. By William Haddin. 



The following remarks on the distribution of the Helicidce in 

 Bute and at Largs are the result of observations made during the 

 two last simimers in these localities. Although including by far 

 the greater number of species likely to be found there, the list 

 cannot be considered exhaustive. An enumeration of the species 

 seriatim, describing their habitat, is perhaps the best manner in 

 which to treat the subject. 



Vitrina pelliicida, the sole representative of the geims in 

 Britain, occurs almost everywhere, but in greater profusion on 

 the coast line. In the spring and summer it is scarce, but 

 towards the end of autumn and during winter it may be taken 

 in numbers. 



Of the species of Zonites, some are difficult to determine from 

 their resemblance to each other. They are all found in Bute, 



