Notes. 



149 



Journal, an account of the Irish Shigs I have examined, together with 

 a hst of the species and varietie.s, and shall much esteem any assistance 

 from Irish malacologists. — W. E. CorvijNGiC, Mason College, Birmingham. 



lYIoIIusca from Woodenbridgc, Co. Wicklow.— I s])ent a few 

 days after ICaster in the dcptlis of the Co. Wicklow, at Woodcnl^ridgc, 

 which I can strongly recommend as a promising collecting-ground. The 

 weather was as fine as could be desired for collecting both land and 

 fresh -water mollusca. Towards the end of my visit I was joined by 

 Dr. INI'Weenef , whose great power in detecting microscopic organisms 

 enal)led him to find many of the smaller Helices. Of the two rarities, 

 Helix lamcllata and H. fusca, we obtained a good number. I was most 

 anxious to get some fine specimens of the fresh-w^ater pearl-mussel 

 {Unio margarifi/cr), which, although absent in some of the Wicklow rivers, 

 is abundant in a few favourable spots in the Aughrim river. It has been 

 stated that one pearl is found on an average in a hundred shells, and that 

 only one in every twenty is of an}- value as an ornament. But this is a 

 general average wdiicli is possibly much exceeded in the shells found in 

 many of the Irish rivers, as I discovered several small pearls in aljout a 

 dozen specimens. I am not aware that any organised pearl fisheries have 

 ever been established in Ireland, but in Scotland the river pearl industry 

 was of some importance in the 17th century, and British pearls were even 

 spoken of by Tacitus and Pliu}'. 



The following were the species we took at Woodenbridge : — Vitrina 

 pellucida, Hyalinia cellaria, H. alUaria, H. nitidula, H. inwa, H. radiatula, 

 H. crystallina, H.fulva, Avion ater, A. suhfuscus, A.hortcnsis, A. circumscri2)tus, 

 A. inter medius, Liniax iiiaxiiiius, L. margiiudus, Agriolimax agrcstis, A. hcvis, 

 Amalia sowerbyi, Helix pygvicea, H. rotundaia, H. laniellata, H. hispida, H. 

 fusca, II. nemoralis, Cochlicopa lubrica, Pupa cylindracea, Vertigo edcntula, 

 V. substriata, Claicsilia bidentata, Succinea putris, Canjchiiim minimum, 

 Limiuea percgra, L. truncatu/a, Ancylus fluviatilis, Unio margaritifer. 



The following species were obtained on the sand-hills at Arklow, Co. 

 Wicklow : — Vitrina pellucida,, Hyalinia radiatula, Arion ater, A. subfuscus, 

 Agriolimax agrestis. Helix rotundata, H. pulchella, H. hispida, H. intersccta, 

 H. cricctor2ivi, H. acuta, H. asp)crsa, Cochlicopa. lubrica, Pupa cylindracea, 

 P. muscorum. Vertigo pygmaea. — R. F. SCHARFF, Dublin. 



Planortois ri pari us— A Correction. — I recently received genuine 

 specimens of this species from Germany, and on comparing these with 

 the Irish forms alluded to in The Irish Naturalist (vol. i., p. 192), I regret 

 to inform the readers of this Journal that the latter do not belong to PI. 

 riparius. They are large specimens of PL crista, var. nautilcus. — R. F. 



SCHARFF, Dublin. 



AMPHIBIANS. 



Arrested Development of the Frog's Tadpoie.— Referring to 

 Dr. Scharft's very interesting paper on Frogs in the January number, I 

 should like to mention that I have in my possession some Tadpoles 

 wdiich have remained as such all through last summer and winter, and 

 as I never before knew^ of the Frog remaining so long in its primitive 

 form, I should be glad to hear if au}^ of your readers have ever observed 

 this peculiarit}^ and if so, under what conditions. In the case of mine, 

 there is no hindrance to their getting out of the w^ater when ready, as 

 they are in a rough rock-built basin, with the water always nearly to the 

 lip, but the water is not stagnant — a trickle of Vartry water alw^a3-s run- 

 ning into it, keeping it more or less fresh, but not so much as to prevent 

 duckweed growing freely. Could it be possible that the freshness of the 

 water might have such an effect upon their breathing apparatus as to 

 retain them in their fishy state, and retard their otherwise natural de- 

 velopment ; or may it be the case that a number do remain over un- 

 observed every year in the ditches without change.? for what I have are 

 only a small remnant of the number hatched out from the spawn. They 

 lie in the mud at the bottom, but are quite lively when stirred up. Most 

 of them have the two hind legs developed.— H. M. Barton, Dublin. 



