92 NOTES —ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 



have been made to a considerable extent both at home and abroad, the conclu- 

 sions arrived at are : — First, that upon heavy soil egg production should be the 

 main object ; second, that upon medium soils, whilst better table poultry can 

 undoubtedly be produced, still eggs should be kept largely in view ; third, that 

 it is upon the more porous and kindlier soils that we may fairly expect to secure 

 the finest qualities of table poultry." 



Mr. Brown adds, with regard to the influence of the soil 



on the colour of the legs of poultry : — 



" A friend who lived for several years upon the lowLuids in East Essex, where 

 the soil is very heavy, was a breeder of a yellow legged and fleshed variety, and 

 his birds were remarkable for the brightness of their legs. He removed to 

 another county where the soil was lighter, and the result was that the birds 

 became distinctly paler in colour of leg." 



Mr. Brown wishes that " a geological map could be prepared 

 for every district, showing the class of poultry which may be 

 reared within that area.'' 



MOLLUSC A. 

 Marine Mollusca at Walton-on-Naze. — Petricola 

 pholadiforjiiis, Lam., occurs both alive and dead in the London 

 Ciay, between tide-marks, to the South of Walton-on-Naze. 

 Dead shells were collected last summer by Mr. C. W. Vincent. 

 Judging from the size of those I obtained in May this year, the 

 species must have been established at Walton for several years. 

 Pholas Candida, its usual companion, also occurs plentifully in the 

 same localit3^ [For other Essex localities for Petricola see Essex 

 Naturalist xii., i68.] Aceva bullata, Miill. (recorded for Walton 

 in British Conchologv, IV., 431), was abundant in the "back- 

 water" near the Old Mill at Whitsuntide this year.^ — J. E. 

 Cooper, Highgate, iSth June, 1903. [Mr. Cooper has kindly 

 presented specimens of Walton Petricola and Acera to the Club's 

 Museum. Ed.] 



LN SECTS. 



A Raid by Ants. — On the 30th June, 1903, whilst walking 

 through a copse about three-quarters of a mile to the V/.N.W. 

 of Newick Station (near Lewes, Sussex), my attention was 

 attracted to a column of ants, about eighteen inches wide, which 

 extended across the path. The ants were crossing in both 

 directions, but many of those going in a westerly direction were 

 draggmg caterpillars, the size of which varied from ^ inch 



I Aceva bullata was recorded for the Blackwater by Mr. Walter Crouch, E.K. ii., 248, and 

 Dr. Sorby says (Victoria History i., 83), that it must be common " in the upper part of the 

 Stour, and l' think I have collected it in the Colne." 



