54 LIMNEA FRAGILIS. 



authority in European conchology. Yet, what 

 species the Helix fragilis of Linnaeus really is, 

 seems undecided, as will appear from the follow- 

 ing extract from Dr. Gould's letter: — "I have 

 fallen in with Cantraine's Malacologie medi- 

 terranee et littorale, in Mem. de l'Acad. des 

 Sciences et Belles lettres de Bruxelles, torn, xiii., 

 from which I extract under L. palustris — 'Cette 

 espece que j'ai recueillie dans la Salone etc. me 

 parait appartenir aux deux continents, car je 

 ne pense pas que le Lymnea elodes, Say, en 

 differe,' p. 158. Under L. stagnalis — 'Comme 

 le dernier tour dans les adultes est hors de pro- 

 portion avec ceux qui precedent, le jeune age 

 doit avoir une autre physiognomic La coquille 

 est alors moins ventrue et plus en fuseau. Dans 

 cet etat c'est H. fragilis, Lin., No. 704, Gmel. 

 p. 3658. L. speciosus, Ziegl. Rossm. i. p. 50. 

 Sturm viii. pi. 12.' J'y consens ! ! I think Lin- 

 naeus would never have applied such a name to 

 our elodes alias palustris, when he well knew 

 others so much more fragile." 



Having already adopted the earlier name 



fragilis, and not having sufficient grounds to 



induce me to abandon it, I reproduce it here, 



although I would not have used it in the first 



