408 Zoological Society : — 



July 8, 18.)6.— Dr. Gray, F.R.S., in the Chair. 



On the Land and Freshwater Shells of Kashmir and 



Tibet, collected by Dr. T. Thomson. 



By S. p. Woodward, F.G.S. 



These shells, which I received through Dr. J. D. Hooker and Sir 

 Charles Lyell, were collected by Dr. Thomson in 1847-8, when he 

 accompanied Major Cunningham and Capt. II. Strachey in '*one of 

 the most adventurous journeys ever made in the Himalaya*." 



The shells of continental India are nearly all distinct from those 

 of Europe, and although far inferior in beauty and variety to those 

 of the Asiatic Islands, have yet a marked character, owing to the ad- 

 mixture of tropical forms and especially to the great development 

 of the operculated genera {Cyclostomidce\ which are almost unknown 

 in our quarter of the world f. 



It was, therefore, a matter of considerable interest to ascertain 

 what land and freshwater shells occur in the remote regions of Kash- 

 mir and Tibet, and somewhat surprising to find, that of about 22 

 sorts collected by Dr. Thomson, one-half were British species, and 

 the rest of the commonest and most widely diffused Indian forms. 



The species marked * are European. 

 *Helix pulchella, small var., subfossil. Iskardo, Tibet (Europe, 

 N. America). 



* costata^ large var., recent. Iskardo, 7200 feet. 



*HeUcella nitida. Near Iskardo (Europe, N. America). 

 Bulimus candelaris, Pfr. Takht i Suliman, Kashmir. 



segregatus, small var. Kashmir. 



*^««a lubrica {subfossil). Iskardo (Europe, N. America). 

 Pupa Huttoniana, Benson. Iskardo (also subfossil). 

 *Succinea Pfeifferi, var. (longiscata, Morillet ?). Kashmir. 

 *Limncea stagnalis. Kashmir (Europe ; N. America, Oregon). 



* peregra. Pitak, Tibet ; Kashmir. 



y var. Hookeri. Iskardo and Nubra, Tibet (18,000 feet). 



* auricularia. Iskardo ; Thogji Lake (subfossil). 



, sp. Kashmir (resembling the Australian L. simulata). 



* truncatula, Miill. Iskardo, in damp moss (also found at Can- 



dahar, Affghanistan ; at Madeira, and in the U. States). 



luteola, Lam. («?<ccme«, Dh.). Islamabad, Kashmir (also 



Prorae, Burmah). 



acuminata. Lam. Jamu hills. 



Planorbis Coromandelicus, Fabr. Jamu hills ; Islamabad, Kashmir 



(also Ceylon and Malacca). 

 nanus, Benson ; subfossil. Tsoral Lake, Tibet (Capt. II. 



Strachey). 

 , sp. Pitak and Iskardo ; Tertse, Nubra, in lacustrine clay. 



* Western Himalaya and Tibet ; a Journey through the Mountains of Northern 

 India. By Dr. Thomas Thomson. 8vo, London, 1852. 



t Mr. Benson states that Helix Baclriana (Ilutton), found in Affghanistan, is 

 closely allied to the European H.strigclla. 



