Vol.. I. JUNK, 1892. No. 3. 



THK IRISH I.AND AND FRESHWATER MOI.I.USCA. 



BY R. F. SCHARFF, PH.D., B.SC. 



Thf fact that Ireland possesses several species and many 

 varieties of land and freshwater mollusca not found in Great 

 Britain may justify my giving a more extended account of 

 them than has hitherto been published. 



A casual observer may not be acquainted with more than 

 half a dozen different kinds of slugs and snails, and it requires 

 most diligent search at different seasons of the year to obtain 

 all the one hundred and eleven species which are now known 

 to occur in Ireland. It should be remembered that on a 

 country walk no stone should be left unturned. 



lyand shells may be collected at all times of the year, but 

 the summer and autumn are the best seasons. As a rule, 

 damp localities are the most likely to yield a rich har\^est, 

 though some species, like Helix pisana, H. virgata, and H, 

 ericetorum, seem to prefer dry and grassy slopes. Most of the 

 freshwater mollusca, such as all the Pla?iorbes, and many of 

 the LiimicscB, live in stagnant or slowly-moving waters, and a 

 very fine-meshed net will be useful in exploring ditches and 

 ponds. 



The external shell of the mollusca is so characteristic, and 

 affords such excellent specific distinctions, that for the col- 

 lector it is not necessary to retain the animal, which can be 

 easily removed with a pin after the shell has been immersed 

 in boiling water for a few minutes. The heat of the water 

 not only kills the animal instantaneously, but relaxes the 

 columellar muscle, by means of which the animal is fixed to 

 the shell. 



Having secured the shell and thoroughly cleaned it, I would 

 urge on the collector the very great importance of recording 

 the locality where the specimen has been taken. The princi- 

 pal maxim in fact is — label your specimen with the name of the 

 locality in which it was found. The date of the capture may 

 be useful too, but is not of such importance, and the 

 scientific name of the animal can be added at an}^ time. 



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