"^"ibOl." ] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 99 



Bulimulus alteruatus Say. 



= Bulimitfi alfcrnalus Say, 1830, 

 -j- Bnlimnii tSvhiedeautis Tfr., 1854. 

 + Buliinus patriarcha W. G. B., 1858. 

 -1- IJitlimtts maria' Albers, 1858. 

 + Bulimus mooreanus Pfr., 1868. 



The last four names which have been given to this exceedingly vari- 

 able form I regard as synonyms, and an examination of the ample 

 material in the natioual collection i)oints to and warrants this conclu- 

 sion. I am under the imi)ression that Mr. Binney is now of this opinion. 

 Mr. J. A. Singley, of Giddings, Texas, and Mr. 0. T. Simpson, of the 

 Natioual Museum, who have collected large numbers of these so-called 

 species in Texas and the Indian Territory, consider the foregoing, as 

 well as B. dealhatiis Say, as one and the same species. I am not pre- 

 pared to go quite so far at the present moment ; perhaps further com- 

 parison and study may lead me to the same conclusion. The synonyms 

 may be regarded as representing varietal aspects, and it is not surpris- 

 ing that so mutable a form should have received so many names. The 

 years iu which these descriptions were published, taken from Binuey's 

 Manual,* have been given for the couveuience of students. Distribu- 

 tion: Indian Territory, Texas, Louisiana, Mexico. 



Dr. Merriam's collectors have found it iu the following places in 

 Texas: Painted Cave, mouth of the Pecos River (Mus. No. 118380); 

 Comstock (Mus. No. 118100), near Eagle Pass (Mus. Nos. 120343, 

 120311), William Lloyd; in the valley of the Kio Grande, "at Del Rio, 

 among brush on high ground that is never tlooded" (Mus. No. 118370); 

 also at Langtry (Mus. No. 11 8308), Vernon Bailey. 



The specimens collected by Mr. Bailey at Del Rio include examples 

 with a dull chalk white and others with a smooth porcelaneous surface 

 with an occasional individual faintly colored with yellowish brown in 

 obscure irreguhir longitudinal bands. The color of the aperture varies 

 from nearly white, yellowish, and yellowish brown to dark chocolate. 

 Some examples are robust, others elongated. Some approach the 

 form to which Mr. Binney gave the name jjrt<riarc/i«s, others are nearer 

 to dealhatiis. The shells vary much in solidity, some being thicker and 

 heavier than others. In most instances the columella is simple with- 

 out a wave> snbplait, or fold; this part of the shell being straight, while 

 in others the pillar exhibits a partial twist, suggesting a fold or modi- 

 fied plait. The umbilical feature is also variable, being more open in 

 some specimens than in others. The deposit of callus on the pillar is 

 sometimes so heavy as to connect the edges of the outer lip and pro- 

 duce a peristome. In some the incremental lines are fine, in others 

 coarse, and occasionally a specimen is met with that is partially trav- 

 ersed by a fine grooved lino parallel to and just below the suture. The 

 finest examples in the Natioual Museum were collected at Painted 



' Biilletiu 2.-<, U. S. Ncafcioua,l Museum. 



