296 Nob on Vioipara lineata, Vol. 



\i | but a . at this description to convince me that 



it was never drawn from a specimen of the species to which the 

 name Uneata has been applied by American authors. It was 

 equally clear to me that the description was not applicable to any 

 - known to inhabit the region indicated by Valenciennes. 

 1 was obliged, therefore, in the work referred to (p. 31), to leave 

 it a doubtful - *, with the hope of its eventually being redis- 

 covered. 



Here the matter rested, Until an opportunity occurred of clear- 

 up all doubt regarding the identity of Paludina Uneata, 

 Valenciennes. While in Paris, in 1867, it occurred to me to 

 look anion.; the shells at the Garden of Plants for the original 

 jimen ^i' Valenciennes. Through the kindness of Prof. 

 LacazeDuthiers every facility for the search was given me. I 

 very soon found the desired type, glued to a card tablet and 

 labelled, in the handwriting of Valenciennes, " Paludina lineata, 

 Val., dan- Humboldt et Bonpland, tome II. Du lac Erie, 

 l'Amerique du Nbrd, par M. Michaud;" but below was written 

 in the same hand "C'est faux, elle vient de rind.'."'' Here then 

 was a simple solution of the difficulty. The speeies is not 



American. It is the well-known Eastern shell figured by BLiister 

 Paludina Bengalensis (Chemn., ed. 2, figs. 1"». L6). Other 

 jimens from Delhi, Bengal, &c, are labelled P. lineata, also 



in Valenciennes 1 handwriting; on one tablet Pal. fasciata, Gray, 



iven as a synonym. 



A few days after this interesting discovery at tin' Garden of 



■ i v. i- looking at a copy of Humboldt ami Bonpland's 



•■ Recueil d'( Ibservations, &&" at the houseofM. Crosse. Turning 



t.. the description of Paludin i lineata, I found a marginal note 



to Bengal instead <•! Lake Erie. Recogniz- 

 ee handwriting of Valenciennes, I called the attention ol M. 

 to it, and learnl that ihr book had actually belonged to 

 at the sale "I' whose library it was bought by M. 



* Paludina llaeata, Val., In Humboldt and Bonpland, vol '-'. Prom Lake I 



ud. Thli i^ ;i mistake, the >hi from India. 



