1908.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 45 



NOTES ON SUCCINEA OVALIS Say AND S. OBLIQUA Say. 

 BY HENRY A. PILSBRY. 



Since Gould's publication on the Succineas of Massachusetts in 1841, 

 there has been more or less confusion as to the identity of Succinea 

 ovalis Say. The facts in the case were pointed out by Dr. Binney in 

 1851, but unfortunately a faulty manner of correcting Gould's mistake 

 was adopted, resulting in two errors of nomenclature in place of one. 

 Some years ago the writer rectified the current usage, restoring Say's 

 name ovalis to its original significance. This correction has been 

 accepted by many recent writers, but there are a few conspicuous 

 exceptions ; hence it seems necessary, in the interest of uniform nomen- 

 clature, to demonstrate the status of *S. ovalis by giving its history 

 somewhat fully. 



Observations on the mantle-markings of Succinea, made in New 

 York several years ago, also find place here. These color markings are 

 shown to be highly variable among individuals of a single colony, yet 

 the general pattern differs to a greater or less extent in different species. 

 The subject is worth further investigation, both from the standpoint of 

 variation and also systematically, as an aid in distinguishing species in 

 this difficult genus. 

 Succinea ovalis Say. 



The actual type or types of Succinea ovalis Say are no longer in 

 existence ; but three specimens labelled and mounted on a card by Say 

 are extant, representing what he subsequently considered to be S. ovalis. 

 The original description must have been drawn from immature in- 

 dividuals, the measurements, ''length nine-twentieths of an inch, 

 aperture seven-twentieths," being only about two- thirds to three- 

 fourths the ordinary size attained around Philadelphia. The pro- 

 portion of aperture to length given by Say agrees with specimens I 

 have measured, but with no other Succinea of this region. This common 

 Philadelphian snail, still living in Fairmount Park, is indistinguish- 

 able from what Lea subsequently described from Newport, R. I., as S. 

 totteniana. 



In the Tableau Systematique de la Famille des Limagons, p. 26 (1821), 

 Ferussac records Succinea ovalis Say as communicated to him by Say, 

 and figured on plate XIa, fig. 1 of the Histoire, etc., which was 



