/Yr' ^ 

 SixOTON IV., 1895. '^'"^ [ 17 ] Trans. R.S.C. 



II. — Preliminarij Cataloyue of the Marine Mollusea of the Facipr (.'oast 

 of Canada, tvith notes upon their distribution. 



Bj' the Eeverend GeorCxE W. Taylor. F.Z.S. Divlsto Of Molhufeft 



Sectional Uhrar^- 



(Read May 2.5, 1894.) ' 



111 the present pu[)er I have not attempted anything move than 

 is expressed in the title, namely a •' Preliminary Catalogue " of the 

 Marine Mollusea of our province. 



The time when it will be possible to write an exhaustive history- of 

 our western shells has not yet come. Too little local collecting has been 

 done. We who are resident within the province, and who have oppor- 

 tunity of examining the shells themselves, are unable to consiilt much 

 of the necessary literature. On the other hand, naturalists more 

 favourably situated with regard to books, and who have access to the 

 great libraries, lack the advantage of possession of complete sei'ies of 

 specimens. 



Some day, let us hope, scientitic literature will be more accessible 

 to us in the far west and then perhaps we may be able to study our 

 fauna thorovighly on the spot. In the meantime ic is believed that a 

 catalogue like the present, in which are brought together the results 

 of the observations of the princij^al pi'evious workers, will be of use to 

 those who may, in the future, be led to take up the subject. 



It is not claimed, of course, that even as a compilation this 

 catalogue is free from error, but every care has been taken in verifying 

 quotations and records, and it is hoped that no very serious blunders 

 will have crept in. 



A writer upon west American mollusea must almost of necessity 

 tuke as his starting point the classic works of Dr. P. P. Cai-penter. 



When that distinguished conchologist presented his first report ' to 

 the British Association, hardly anything was known of the mollusea of 

 the Vancouver pi'ovince. Only about 85 species belonging to our fauna 

 were noted as west American in that report, and nearlv all of these were 

 cither Arctic or Southern Californian shells. 



In the interval, however, between 1856 and the completion, in 1863. 

 of Ajx\ Carpenters second report" a vast amount of additional informa- 

 tion was accumulated. 



1 " Report oil the present state of our knowledge with regard to the niolhxsca of 

 the V est coast of Xorth America." in the Report of the British Association for lS.T<i. 

 published in 18.57. 



'-' "Supplementary report on the present state of our knowled.u;e witli regard to 

 the mollusea of the west coast of North America," in the Report of tlie British 

 Asso.^.iation for IStJ;^, published in August, 1864. 



Sec. IV.. 189.5. 2. 



