igog. Welch. — Land-sJiell Rain-ivash in Co. Donegal. 115 



sand also in other western dune-areas. For this reason- shell 

 masses collected together from an}^ cause, if they are quickly 

 co\xred b}^ the blowing sand to a fair depth, are protected 

 against solution largely or entirely. 



When freed from mud, sand, and some vegetable debris, the 

 great bulk of the old dune-deposit proved to be composed of 

 five specieS; mostl}^ only partly grown — Helix cricetorum, H. 

 acuta, H. nemoralis, Cochlicopa Inbrica, and Pupa muscorum. 

 With these were at least sixteen other species, including verj^ 

 large numbers of //e7/.i' pulchella, Vertigo pyomcea^ V. a7igustior, 

 and Carychiuni minimum; with man\^ Helix pygma:a, H. 

 hispida, H. aculeata, Vertigo substriata, and the rare V. pusilla. 

 The more recent deposit-material I have not worked out yet. 

 It seems to be composed of just the same species as the older, 

 and, in any case, will be a mixture of shells of various periods, 

 like all these dune collections. None of the species found 

 are new to the district. A. W. StelfoX; on his previous visit 

 in 1905, obtained most of them alive, the rest in shell-pockets. 

 In his north-v;est Donegal list in this Journal, vol. xv., pp. 

 62-67, 1906, he is careful to separate out these latter from 

 those found living. 



Belfast. 



THE GORDII OF IRELAND. 



BY ROWLAND SOUTHERN, B.SC 



In 1908, a small collection of Irish Gordian worms, in the 

 National Museum, Dublin, w^as sent for examination to 

 Professor L- Camerano, of the University of Turin, the well- 

 known authority on this group of worms. His report on the 

 collection was printed in the Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia 

 d. R. U?iiversitd di Toriiio, 1908, Vol. xxiii., No. 578. 



The worms included in this group are commonly known 

 as " hair-worms." They are found in the adult stage in 

 ditches, ponds, and streams, usuall}^ attached to water-weeds. 

 Often they occur in considerable numbers, with their long 

 slender bodies tangled and twisted together in knots. Hence 

 the generic name of Gordius. 



