8 THE NAUTILUS. 
stumbling block to the ranks of the beginners. ‘To these the science 
should be rendered as simple and attractive as possible, and they 
should rather be encouraged than discouraged by a formidable array 
of names without meaning. No one but an expert, a closet natural- 
ist, who sits in his snug alcove, surrounded by scientific books and 
collections, and who devotes his entire time to the study, can keep 
track of the names introduced by this mania, and I doubt if many 
of these can do it. 
The old landmarks of the noble science are going one by one, and 
we should seek to fill the ranks from the young and enthusiastic, 
from those who have a living to make, and cannot devote their whole 
time to puzzling over a lot of names that even their authors did not 
comprehend, and only inflicted upon the world for the sake of 
gaining notoriety. 
STRIZ. 
Paludina scalaris, Jay. Apropos of Mr. Pilsbry’s interesting note 
on this species, I would call attention to the fact, which does not 
seem to be well understood, that Ameria has been shown in toto to 
belong not to the Physide, where it was originally placed, but to the 
Limnaeide. As there are rounded and carinate Planorbis, so there 
are rounded and carinate Ameria. Whether Ameria is more or less 
than a section of Planorbis is a q’estion, but it seems to me that the 
high form of the shells is at least as well worthy of recognition by a 
nameas Gyraulus, Helisoma, and other forms commonly so recog- 
nized. Whether A. scalaris belongs to the Limnezeinz or the Planor- 
bine should be easy of determination since the form of the tentael:s 
would serve to decide this at a glance. Wm. H. Dall, Smithsonian 
Institution, Washington, D.C. 
Patula cooperi, in Colorado and Utah. This interesting species is 
extremely common in parts of Colorada, and also, it would appear, 
in the Wahsatch Mountains of Utah, where it is accompanied by 
four others of the same group. It is decidedly variable and for 
reference it may be useful to class the principal varieties as follows : 
a. typica, the ordinary form in Colorado, with two distinct bands, 
diameter 19 to 25 mill.; b. e/evata, spire elevated, Utah (Hemphill) 
and Colorado, a specimen found by Surface Creek, Delta Co., had 
alt., 123, and diam. 16 mill; c. minor, very small, Utah (Hemphill); 
d. confluens, bands confluent, shell therefore brown with a broad 
white band above the periphery and a white umbilical region, Col- 
