28 THE NAUTILUS. 



specimens ( V. carolinensis) have 5 whorls with a maximum 

 diameter of 10 mm". Under V. carolinensis wetherbyi Ckll., 

 he says : " In the report of the expedition of 1899 the speci- 

 mens of V. carolinensis were found to belong to a small race, 

 ranging from 5^ to 7 mm. in diameter. Cockerell has since 

 distinguished it under the above varietal name". ... "It is 

 intermediate between typical V. carolinensis and V. indentata." 

 From this it would seem that shells from say 7^ mm. up to 10 

 mm. diameter are carolinensis and under 7 mm. diameter are 

 var. wetherbyi, and as there is nothing said to the contrary it is 

 safe to assume that the variety is umbilicate. 



Under the above differentiation by size the only carolinensis 

 in my collection are 5 specimens collected by the late Mrs. Geo. 

 Andrews at Cranberry, Avery Co., N. C. ; they are narrowly 

 umbilicate. All of the balance are either "Var. wetherbyi" or 

 the new species described above. 



Cockerell says that carolinensis has about 26 grooved lines on 

 the body whorl, my three largest Cranberry shells have 38, 34 

 and 32 respectively, while a 6^ mm. diameter shell from Mitchell 

 Co., N. C. , (labeled carolinensis by A. G. Wetherby) has 35 

 and a 6 mm. shell from Paint Rock, N. C. has 32 lines. 



THE NATIVE OYSTERS OF OYSTER RIVER, DURHAM, N. H. 



BY C. H. BATCHELDER. 



A natural bed of native oysters has persisted in Oyster river, 

 Durham, New Hampshire, ever since the settlement of the town 

 in 1635. This persistence of the oysters is interesting in view 

 of the fact that they have been fished almost constantly. A 

 superficial survey of the beds reveals the following very general 

 information. 



The beds are found in from six to fifteen feet of water at low 

 tide, in the channel of the stream, which varies from five to 

 about twenty yards in width, and the bed extends along this 

 channel for a half mile, in such quantities that one can rake 

 a bushel easily in less than an hour. I am confident however, 

 that the bed extends into deeper water for half a mile beyond 



