212 MINUTE SKENEA. 



maize meal, of a coarse description, and a few dried beans^ they subsisted 

 literally upon wild-fowl and rabbits. The place was filthy beyond descrip- 

 tion, — cold, dirty, and comfortless, whilst fuel was very scarce and of an 

 inferior quality. We could not avoid drawing a comparison between this 

 man's condition and that of a shepherd in the country which we had just 

 left, and as we did so we sighed for the balmy air and the blue skies of 

 Australia. 



(To he continued.) 



MINUTE SKENEA. 



TO THE EDITOR OF "tHE NATURALIST. 



J 

 1.— Highly magnified. 2.— Natural size. 



Through the kindness of Spence Bate, Esq., I am enabled to send you 

 a drawing of an extremely minute Skenea, which I found in sand taken 

 amongst Corallina officinalis, from rock pools at Gwyllyn Vase, near Fal- 

 mouth. It is involute, like Skenea nitidissima, and equally umbilicated 

 both above and below, but the whorls, which are three instead of two 

 and a half, as in that shell, do not increase quite so rapidly in size. 

 Its distinctive feature consists in having three spiral ribs of a shining 

 fulvous tint, which contrast strongly with the whitish ground colour of the 

 shell; one is situated on each side, extending from the apex to the orifice, 

 and the third, which is not so distinctly elevated, on the centre of the 

 body. 



The entire volutions appear under a good lens distinctly wrinkled lon- 

 gitudinally, more especially on the inner sides, and under a still higher 

 power, finely striated spirally. The mouth, which is well rounded, and does 

 not turn to either side, embraces a considerable portion of the body whorl. 

 The operculum I have not been able to examine. Its diameter hardly 

 equals the twentieth of an inch. As yet I have only obtained four speci- 

 mens, but have still some small portion of the sand in which they are 

 found, remaining unexamined. 



If the shell, as described above, is already known, I should feel greatly 

 obliged if any of your scientific correspondents would favour me with the 

 name. 



I am borne out in my opinion that it is new to the British Fauna by Dr. 

 Battersby, of Torquay, who has kindly examined the shell. Should it prove 



