380 Short Communications, 



shell. It appears to be a truncated variety of the ^uccinum 

 palustre Miiller, Helix palustris of most British authors, 

 Limnae^us fiiscus of Pfeiffer, and is perfectly distinct from the 

 former ; differing from it not only in the fewer number of its 

 volutions, but in its whole contour, and in the last whorl being 

 considerably larger or more inflated than the penultimate one. 



I have not the first edition of Pennant's British Zoology at 

 hand ; so I cannot say how far the figure of his H. octona 

 may agree with W. W.'s shell [fig. 32. p. 161.]. The H. 

 octona of the second edition is a totally different species, 

 common in the West Indies ; but has, probably, no claim to 

 be considered British, although described as such by nearly 

 all our authors. It is arranged in the genus Bulimus by 

 Lamarck, but is in reality an Achatina. 



Linnaeus refers to a figure in Gualtieri's Index, as repre- 

 sentative of his Helix octona; but this figure is, unfortunately, 

 the Achatina acicula of Lamarck, and is wholly at variance 

 with the description given by the illustrious Swede. Baron 

 de Ferussac is aware of this discrepancy ; and, in his inimit- 

 able work on land and freshwater shells [V. 192.], candidly 

 says, in reference to this species, " Nous ne connoissons pas 

 la veritable espece de Linne, dont ia description ne convient 

 ni a V acicula, ni a notre octona J^ On the other hand. Pro- 

 fessor Nilsson, a Swedish author, thinks he has discovered 

 the long-disputed shell of Linnaeus ; and, in his excellent 

 Historia Molluscorum SuecicE, describes it under the name of 

 Paludina octona, adding, " Hanc esse veram Helicem octo- 

 nam Lin., et descriptio Linneana et patria utriusque docet." 



The unravelling of the discordant synonymes with which 

 the lovely science of conchology is so thickly beset, is neither 

 calculated to please the generality of readers, nor likely to 

 inspire the uninitiated with a desire to taste the unalloyed 

 sweets resulting from the pursuit of natural history. I will, 

 therefore, conclude by observing, that, if W. W. of South- 

 ampton will favour me with his address, and a hstof the shells 

 found in his neighbourhood, we may, perhaps, be of farther 

 use to each other by an exchange of specimens, as many 

 species occur in the south which are seldom or never met with 

 in more northern latitudes. — Joseph Kenyo7u 7. Butler Street, 

 Preston, April, 1834.. 



[In Silliman's American Journal for January, there is a 

 « Description of some new species of freshwater shells from 

 Alabama, Tennessee, &c., by T. A. Conrad." Eighteen species 

 are described, and fifteen figured. They are of the genera 

 U^iio, Alasmodonta, Anodonta, Cyclas, Melania, Anculosa, 

 Planorbis, and Physa. The description is " to be continued."] 



