322 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



recent addition to our fauna, but may antedate the creation 

 of our strictly American species. 



The southern region exhibits evidences of immigration 

 from other faunas, Florida possessing West Indian and South 

 American species, and Texas having many from Mexico. He, 

 however, finds evidence of a distinct creation in regard to a 

 large portion of our Southern fauna in the way of numerous 

 entirely peculiar species. He can account for the character- 

 istics of the American fauna in the Eastern province only by 

 the admission of a distinct creation, dating back at least as 

 far as the post-pliocene times, since which period scarcely any 

 change has occurred. Little can be said as to the origin of 

 the fauna of the Central and Pacific provinces, although Mr. 

 Binney finds reason, even there, to imagine a distinct crea- 

 tion. A great number of American land shells have been 

 introduced into the country by the agency of man. 



INTRODUCTION OF LAND SHELLS INTO SCOTLAND. 



An interesting experiment has lately been made in Scot- 

 land, under the auspices of the Perthshire Society of Natural 

 Science, in the way of acclimatizing sundry species of land 

 shells, about seven thousand living specimens of Helix vir- 

 f/atci^ Helix pisa)ia^ and JBulimiis acutus having been turned 

 out during the summer of 1872. 12 A^ August V, 1873, 294. 



HABITS OF BLACK BASS. 



A writer in the Germantowm Telegraph communicates 

 some interesting facts in regard to the breeding habits of 

 the black bass, as observed by him in the Delaware River 

 and elsewhere. He remarks that as the time for spawning 

 draws near, the male and female fish come together in pairs, 

 each pair having a separate spawning -ground. A gravel 

 bottom is usually selected which is free from sticks and 

 stones, which is cleared for a space of about two feet in di- 

 ameter, readily recognized by its clean, regular appearance. 

 When the eggs are deposited and impregnated by the male, 

 both watch wdth great assiduity over the bed, driving off 

 every intruder. When the eggs are hatched, the entire fam- 

 ily moves away, the parents attending uj^on their young until 

 able to take care of themselves, when they drop away one by 

 one. The writer remarks that he has seen a bass an inch agd 



