128 



entitled " Remarks explanatory of a Section of the Drift 

 or superficial Materials of the Northwest, from Lake Erie 

 to the Lake of the Woods." Referred to the publishing 

 committee. 



A communication was read from Mr. E. S. Morse, of 

 Portland, Me., on Helix asteriscus, and specimens of 

 the shell were presented. 



Helix asteriscus, Morse. Animal, short, bluish. 



Shell, small, orbicular, very much depressed ; whorls four, 

 rounded above and below ; banded by twenty-five to thirty very 

 thin, transparent, and prominent ribs, very oblique, inclined back- 

 ward ; spire not rising above the last whorl ; suture deeply im- 

 pressed ; umbilicus moderately large, showing all the volutions ; 

 finely striated between the ribs ; in some specimens parallel lines 

 may be observed. Color, light brown. 



Dimensions : breadth, J^^ in. ; height, ^^ in. 



Found at Bethel, Me., in company with Pupa pentodon and 

 Pupa exigua, Sept. 28, 1856. 



Observations. This shell differs from N. annulata, Case, in 

 being smaller, the umbilicus not so large, spire not elevated, 

 intercostal space not marked with parallel lines, but finely stri- 

 ated ; the color is also different. 



Its peculiar thin, transparent ribs, depressed spire, and deep 

 umbilicus, are prominent features that can never confound it with 

 other species. 



Mr. Amos Binney read the following communication 

 from his brother, Mr. W. G. Binney, and presented the 

 specimens referred to : — 



Philadelphia, December 27, 1856. 



Enclosed you will find a suite of the common American Snail, 

 Helix thyroidiis, Say, for the Museum of the Society. 



Being engaged in a careful study of the land shells of the 

 United States, I am paying particular attention to ihaiv geographi- 

 cal distribution. In forming suites of all the species from every 

 part of the Union, some interesting results have been reached. 

 The snail in question has been found in nearly every section of 



