204 Mr. W. Thompson's Catalogue of the Land and 



of a tin box, where, for the purpose of taking some drawings of the 

 different varieties, they were held. A similar feat was performed by 

 the full-grown and dark varieties, which were on the same box with 

 L. filans, but they did not appear to possess the same facility, and 

 were more reluctant in resorting to this expedient for escaping from 

 the confined space on which they were placed. Turton, in his de- 

 scription of the shell of this species, makes no mention of the mem- 

 branaceous margin. I have now eight specimens before me, taken 

 from the animals this morning ; the following is an attempt at their 

 description : shell rather variable, in shape usually oblong oval, 

 somewhat larger than those found in L, Sowerbii, but much thinner, 

 and without the same abrupt thickening in the centre, with a mem- 

 branaceous edge, all of them concave, as much so in proportion to 

 size as in L. parma. 



I have not been able to recognise the Limax brunneus of Drap., 

 in either county, or elsewhere. 



Limax variegatus ? 



L. flavescens, var. v. Fer., t. 5. f. 3. ? 



La Bergerie; Monivea; county Galway. Common on beech and 

 other trees in moist woods ; they somewhat resemble in colour var. v. 

 f. 3. L. flavescens, Ferus. All the Queen's county and Galway 

 specimens have the yellowish dorsal streak, both in young and adults. 

 I have not as yet found it in such a locality as is ascribed to it by 

 Ferussac : he observes, " Elle infeste les caves ou elle se tient ordi- 

 nairement contre les murailles." I have never taken it elsewhere 

 than on the trunks of trees (particularly beech), in the crevices and 

 under the moss. The remarkable transparency of this species does 

 not appear to be noticed as a specific character. After rain, I have 

 seen them in numbers gliding down the smooth bark of the beech 

 from feeding on the higher foliage, their bodies appearing between 

 the light like pellucid jelly, through which their internal organiza- 

 tion can be indistinctly traced. 



While these notes on the Limacidce were passing through the 

 press, I felt desirous of consulting M. Bouchard's memoir ; and no 

 sooner was this communicated to Mr. Gray (by Mr. Thompson), 

 than he with great kindness forwarded his copy of it to Ireland for 

 that purpose. I suspected that the Limax, here doubtfully intro- 

 duced as " L. flavescens, var. v. Fer.," might perhaps be referred 

 to L. arborum, on account of its possessing certain characters and 

 habits differing from what is contained in any description of L. va- 

 riegatus and its varieties. I consequently have compared my speci- 

 mens carefully with M. Bouchard's description of L. arborum, and 

 was much gratified to find a perfect agreement in the specific di- 

 stinctions, as well as in the peculiar habits of the animal. This 

 Limax is so well marked as to leave no doubt on my mind of its 

 identity with that species. I have recently obtained unquestionable 

 specimens of L. variegatus in La Bergerie garden, which are refer- 

 able to " L. variegatus, Fer., var. a. t. 5. f. 1. Luteus aut succi- 

 neus." They are precisely similar to specimens taken by R. Ball, 

 Esq., in a garden at Youghal, and now in his collection. In spirits 

 the yellow colour disappears. 



