HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G SSIP. 



187 



very peculiar distortion last December, differing from 

 this, the spirse being very much produced, the whorls 

 united and the shell varying but very little in 

 diameter from apex to base, the outline being in fact 

 very like that of Bulimies decollates. I should be 

 glad to hear if any one has met with a similar form. 

 —F. IV. JVotton, Cardiff. 



The Mollusca of Clonmel, Ireland. — The 

 Rev. A. H. Delap has sent me a large selection of 

 the slugs and shells of this district ; and as there is 

 no existing list of the mollusca of Tipperary or North 

 Waterford, and because the collection contains many 

 interesting forms, I have drawn up a list of them 

 for the use of your readers, which is as follows : 

 Arion ater vars. rufa and nigirscens, and a small 

 example of var. bicolor. A. subfuscus, Drap., new to 

 Ireland : the specimens are bright orange, with ill- 

 marked lateral bands (var. aurautiaca) ; the jaw of 

 this species has twelve or more well-marked ribs. 

 A. hortensis, var. with orange slime, var. pyrenaica, 

 Moq., and a variety (? species) larger than type, grey, 

 with narrow lateral bands. Arion distinctus, Mabille ? 

 var. subdeleta, tentacles blue-black, head of the same 

 colour, body and mantle greenish or yellowish-grey, 

 with very indistinct brownish lateral bands, tail 

 darker than the rest of the body, foot pale ; length 

 about 20 mill. ; shell oval, flattish ; jaw dark brown, 

 crescentic, almost simple, liver dark. Of this several 

 were sent, all similar : it appears to be a good 

 species, but does not agree in all particulars with 

 A. distinctus. Amalia marginata, a small and dark 

 one ; Limax agrestis var. sylvatica ; L. maximus var. 

 fasciata, Moq. ; L. arborum var. maculata, very abun- 

 dant in one locality in Waterford, L. arborum var. 

 decipiens, ground-colour brownish-grey, but markings 

 coalesced, producing the appearance of pale spots on 

 a dark grey ground, lateral bands ill-marked on 

 mantle, and none on body ; keel short, dorsal line 

 partly obsolete. This slug is very like some forms of 

 L. variegatus, Drap. Succinea Pfeifferi var. brevi- 

 spirata, Baudon (new to Ireland), and two other 

 varieties, one (virescens) greenish, with an elongated 

 spire and deep suture, and the other {rufesce?is) 

 reddish, with a shallow suture. Vitrina pellucida, 

 Hyalina cellaria and var. albinos, If. alliaria, Jeff., 

 H. crystallina, H. excavata, H. pura type, H. radia- 

 tula, H. nitidula, and vars. nitens and Hebnii, Conulus 

 fulvus, Helix lamellata, H. nemoralis, vars. libellula 

 00300, 12345, rubella 00300, 12345, and 1(23)45, 

 and castanea 00000. The pale-lipped var. roseolabiata 

 also occurs, but H. hortensis has not occurred in the 

 district, although a careful search was made for it. 

 H. caperata, H. virgata, and var. albicans and var. 

 aff. to lutescens, H. rufescens, H. concinna, H. erice- 

 torum, and var. aff. to deleta, H. rotundata and var. 

 alba, H. pulchella, H. rupestris, Cochlicella aaita and 

 var. bizona (the occurrence of this species so far 

 from the sea is very remarkable) ; Cochlicopa lubrica, 



and varieties approaching viridula and ovata, Pupa 

 umbilicata and var. alba, P. marginata, Clausilia rugosa 

 and va.Ts.parvula, Turton, and tumidula, Jeff., Bythinia 

 tentaculata, and red-brown var. {rufescens), Valvata 

 pisciualis, Planorbis margiualus, P. contortus var. 

 excavata, much depressed and sunken above ; P. 

 spirorbis var. ecarinata, Physa fontinalis, Limncea 

 peregra and vars. ovata, intermedia, and solemia (more 

 ventricose, whorls more convex, new to Britain) ; 

 L. palustris, L. truncatula var. elcgans, Jeff, (several 

 sent : this is a remarkable variety, almost a sub- 

 species) ; Ancylus fuviatilis, Sphccrium comeuiyi, and 

 Pisidium pusillum. — T. D. A. Cockerell, Bedford 

 Park, Chiswick. 



Preserving Beetles. — At a recent meeting of 

 the Entomological Society of London, Dr. Sharp 

 exhibited a number of species of Staphylinidce, 

 prepared by him some years ago with a view to their 

 special protection and permanent preservation. The 

 insects were placed in cells of cardboard, and these 

 were covered above, or above and below, with card- • 

 board, the whole being hermetically sealed by appli- 

 cations of successive layers of bleached shellac. The 

 President said the plan appeared to be very successful 

 where the cardboard cells were left open on both 

 sides, but when the cell was complete below only 

 one surface of the insect could be examined. 



The Development of the Tadpole. — In re- 

 ference to this subject, has it been noticed that the 

 tadpole is ciliated all over at an early age ? Last 

 year already I noticed a ciliary movement in the 

 egg, and when the young were hatched I saw 

 distinctly that the whole animal was covered with 

 very minute vibratile cilia, an observation which was 

 repeated this year. The cilia are in rapid motion, 

 and produce a strong current in the water, flowing 

 from the head backwards, and so "-no doubt help 

 powerfully the function of respiration through the 

 skin. When the tadpole is about half grown the 

 cilia are suddenly lost ; within a few days I could 

 only find a few tufts here and there, and in another 

 day no trace of them was left. The cilia are very 

 minute, about the size of those covering the " body " 

 of a stentor, and very difficult to see when in rapid 

 motion ; it requires a very good background illumi- 

 nation, and a two-thirds or one-half inch objective. — 

 Charles Rousselet. 



Clathrulina elegans in England. — Please 

 refer your correspondent Mr. T. W. Moss to my 

 "Portfolio" (No. 11, August 1885), which contains a 

 sketch of Clathrulina elegans which I found in this 

 neighbourhood in 1S84 ; and there is a report in the 

 " Midland Naturalist" of April 1884 of my exhibit 

 of it at the local society's meeting. In the June 1885 

 number of the "Transactions of the Essex Field 

 Club," at p. 50, Mr. Charles Thomas records its 

 occurrence in Essex in 1882. Another of my corre- 

 spondents has also found it in Sussex. — Thos. Bolton. 



