194 NATURAL SCIENCE. Sept.. 



Remains of the huge land tortoises, named by Vaillant Testndo 

 grandidieri, have been lately received, and two fine specimens have 

 been placed in the Palaeontological galleries of the British Museum. 



In Mr. G. A. Boulenger's " Catalogue of Snakes in the British 

 Museum" (Natural History), vol. i. (1893), information will be found 

 regarding the Madagascar forms ; and the book itself will be found 

 invaluable to anyone studying Ophidia. 



Pisces. — Dr. Sauvage published in i8gi- the description of the 

 fishes fiom Grandidier's collection, and this text, with the two volumes 

 of plates issued in 1887 and 1888, completes our present knowledge of 

 the group. 



MoLLUscA. — The Rev. A. H. Cooke, dealing with the distribution 

 of the mollusca in the Malagasy Region, notes the great development 

 of the carnivorous land mollusca, the occurrence of large numbers of 

 true Helicidae of great size and beauty, and the prominence of the genus 

 Cyclostoma. The molluscan fauna of Madagascar, even as imperfectly 

 known, appears to possess sufficient individuality to separate it off 

 distinctly from that of the main-land. The Helicidae are quite 

 peculiar, not being found at all in the Mascarenes, Seychelles, or 

 Comoros. They seem to be rather related to the Acavi of Ceylon and 

 the Pandm of N.E. Australia. Fifty-four species of Cyclostoma are 

 known from the group, but are not confined to Madagascar, being 

 distributed over Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Bourbon as 

 well. The African Bulimini are represented by two species, but 

 Achatina is scarce. Two groups of Bulimini [Leucotcenia and Clavator) 

 are peculiar. A single species of Kaliella, identical with a common 

 Indian form, is also recorded. In the fresh-water forms unmistakable 

 traces of Indian relationships are found. There are two species of 

 Paludojims ; Bithynia is recorded ; several of the MelanicB are of a type 

 common in the Indo-Malay Region, while the MelanatvicB, quite 

 peculiar to Madagascar, have their nearest affinities in Ceylon or 

 East India. Not a single one of the characteristic African fresh- 

 water bivalves has yet been found in Madagascar. Several African 

 genera of gasteropoda occur, and indicate, in common with the land 

 mollusca, as Mr. Cooke points out, that the land connection of 

 Madagascar with Africa must have taken place, but that it occurred 

 at an immeasurably remote period. References to recent literature 

 are given in Mr. Cooke's paper. 



Insecta. — Since the publication of the Lepidoptera (1887) from 

 Grandidier's collections, there have been issued three parts of his 

 great work on Madagascar, devoted to the Hymenoptera. These 

 contain both text and plates. A second series of plates of the Cole- 

 optera was issued in 1890, but, in the absence of the text, the new 

 species can only be considered in the light of manuscript names. 



Flora. — The latest information respecting the botany of Mada- 



2 Natural Science, vol. i., p. 152. 



