1898.] 9 



THE IvAND MOIvLUSCA OF THE GREAT SKEIvUG. 



BY R. F. SCHARFF, PH.D. 



The Great Skellig or Skellig Michael, lies about ten 

 miles in a straight line from the nearest land — the coast of 

 Kerry. It is one of the most westerly points in Europe, and 

 from that circumstance alone a complete list of its animal 

 inhabitants would be of interest. But I propose to deal only 

 with the land-shells which have been found living on it. 

 Excepting in fine weather with a fair wind, the island is quite 

 inaccessible. The face of the rock rises precipitously out of 

 the water for several hundred feet, and landing is possible on 

 the eastern side only, where narrow ledges project from the 

 surface of the water to the summit of the cliff. In rough 

 weather, the waves envelop the lower part of the rock, whilst 

 the spray mounts up to the summit, which is about 800 feet 

 above high water mark. 



The flora of the island, as might be expected, is scanty. 

 But I am informed by Mr. Colgan that no list of the plants 

 occurring on the rock has been published. He referred me, 

 however, to a note in the Irish Naturalist (vol. ii., p. 189), on 

 some plants which have been observed on a neighbouring 

 island— the Little Skellig— by Mr. A. Delap. I notice that 

 among these one plant in particular — the Tree Mallow 

 {Lavatera arborea) — is in the British Islands confined to the 

 western shores. 



Geologically, the Great Skellig, as well as the Little Skellig 

 and the Lemon Rock, forms a continuation of the promon- 

 tary which ends in Bolus Head. The rock of which they 

 are composed belongs to the Old Red Sandstone series. 

 According to Mr. G. H. Kinahan, there are on the Great 

 Skellig green and purple grits and also purple slates full of 

 calcareous layers and patches. 



From a distributional point of view an enumeration of the 

 animal inhabitants of this lonely island is of great interest. 

 Accidental transport of species by either wind or waves 

 from the mainland is out of the question, since the first 

 generally blows from the west, and waves would probably fail 

 to wash animals on to a safe landing-place. The chance of 



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