THE MUSEUM. 



[Mr. Pyfer wrote the above as a 

 personal letter, but it contains so 

 many interesting items, at least to 

 collectors who have never lived in a 

 mountainous country, we take the lib- 

 erty to publish it. Editor.] 



Indiana Notes. 



Indiana, with her beautiful prairie 

 land in the north and the almost 

 mountainous sections in the south, is 

 a paradise to the naturalist. Her 

 scenery is as grand as the grandest 

 and the fine geological collecting 

 grounds have made her famous the 

 • world over, while the recent moUusca 

 of the state is up to the standard. 



Fayette county is situated in the 

 south-eastern part of the state and is 

 well drained by numerous creeks that 

 empty into the White Water River 

 which runs through almost the entire 

 length of the county. 



The river and creeks are splendid 

 collecting grounds for fresh water 

 shells while the deep ravines and tim- 

 bered uplands are the homes of a 

 great many varieties of land shells. 



The following list (with notes) is 

 not one-third of the species that have 

 been found in this county, but with 

 the editor's permission I will gradual- 

 ly give the list to the public until it is 

 published in full. I wish to thank 

 Mr. Thomas Curry of this city for his 

 kindness in naming a great many spe- 

 cies for me. 



Helix (Fatula) altcrnata. Say. One 

 of our most common shells, plentiful 

 in shady places. 



Helix {Patula) perspective!. Say. 

 Not plentiful and those found by me 

 were mostly in a small marsh. 



Helix {Jlfesodon) profunda, Say. 

 Common. 



Helix {Mesodon) elevata,. Say. 

 Abundant everywhere. I have good 

 reason to be well acquainted with this 

 snail. While on a geological collect- 

 ing trip I came across an enormous 

 lot of this species. Having my col- 

 lecting box full of fossils I put about 



200 of the snails in my pockets. In a 

 short time snails were crawling all 

 over me, so I pinned the pockets 

 down and carried them home in that 

 way. You can imagine my fi.\ after 

 walking five miles with those snails in 

 my clothes. 



Helix (AIesodo7i) clausa. Say. 

 Common but appears to be mostly in 

 woods bordering on the river. They 

 seem to prefer the "nettle weed" to 

 any other. My largest ' 'catch " at 

 one time was a little over 100. 



Helix iStenotrema) liirusta. Say. 

 Somewhat rare. 



Zoiiites arl'oreus. Say. Common, 

 have often noticed them with Patula 

 alternata. 



Zonites demissits. Somewhat rare. 



Helix (Triodopsis) tridentata, Say. 

 Scattering; have never found them to- 

 gether in large numbers. 



Vallonia pnlchella, var. cos tat a. 

 Scattering, but most abundant at the 

 cemetery which is within the city 

 limits. 



Succinea oralis, Gould. I'^ound in 

 ponds, etc. 



y'w/i? aniiifera, Say. Common, 

 but most abundant on or near tomb 

 stones in cemetery and in a certain 

 grove of willows near the river. 



P!(pa fallax. Say. I don't remem- 

 ber finding this species in any place 

 except the cemetery. 



Allen J. Reynolds, 



Connersville, Ind. 

 (to be continued.) 



The Condition of Archaeology in 

 Mexico. 



The Mexicans, as a nation, are pos- 

 sessed of peculiar ideas on almost any 

 subject that can be mentioned, and 

 their mighty conceptions concerning 

 Archaeology are in no particular, ex- 

 ceptions to the general rule. In fact 

 no science finds room for existence in 

 their capacious craniums. 



As a study Archteology possesses no 

 charms for their non-scientific minds 

 and dispositions and but few years 



