WATER SNAILS. 207 



pereger " that it is fond of wandering, and may be 

 met with at some distance from its native element, or 

 climbing up the trunk of a Willow tree." — J. G. J. 



During the years in which I had personal knowledge 

 of habits of Limnceiis at Sedbury Park, in West 

 Gloucestershire, the L.perec/er was excessively preva- 

 lent in small field ponds or drinking places, where 

 floating water plants, weeds round the bank, and 

 more or less mud, according to weather or season, 

 gave every encouragement to their increase ; but we 

 only met with the truncatulus in one of these small 

 pools. 



It would have been of considerable scientific interest 

 (if we could have had technical examination by an 

 expert) to find whether, in circumstances so congenial 

 to pcrcgcr, the Fluke infestation was jDerfected in it up 

 to maturity, which it does not appear to reach in this 

 species of Snail as observed in captivity. But, as a 

 coincidence at least (whether of this, or of great amount 

 of rabbit presence), our sheep were constantly affected 

 by rot to so serious an extent that it was stated by 

 the bailiff he "never killed one with a sound liver." 



Neither Snails nor Flukes are connected with insect 

 life, but this one jDarasitic attack is given in some 

 ■degree of detail as an example of the very different 

 successive forms which some of our farm infestations 

 go through, and also of the very different localities in 

 which they are to l)e found during their j^rogress to 

 maturity. 



The following information is abridged from the 

 history of the Liver Fluke, recorded from his own 

 observations by Prof. A. P. Thomas, published, vol. 

 xix. S. S. of the Journal of the Ptoj^al Agricultural 

 Society of England ; the figures are taken from the 

 same paper. 



The Liver Fluke, Fasciola Jiepatica, lives in livers 

 of various vertebrate animals, and, in this country, 

 especially of sheep, as well as of rabbits and hares ; 

 it averages from about an inch to an inch and a 



