82 THE NAUTILUS. 
’ 
ginia, and even into Alabama.” Mr. Pilsbry in his recent Check- 
List of N. A. Land Shells credits it to the “ Eastern United States.” 
The collection in the National Museum shows that it has a much 
wider distribution. Upon examining certain shells collected by Dr. 
Edward Palmer [Mus. No 37282] on the West Coast, several years 
ago, I found that he had discovered Say’s species on the banks of the 
Yaqui river near Guaymas, on the easterly side of the Gulf of 
California. |The jump was so great, across the vontinent or a good 
part of it, that I somewhat doubted my own eyes, and therefore sent 
specimens to Tryon and Binney to learn their opinions; both of 
these gentlemen confirmed my determination. Zonites (Hyalina): 
Binney and Morse credited to “ North Eastern U. S.; Canada,” by 
Mr. Pilsbry also makes a great leap to the westward, surpassing that 
of S. hirsuta, having been detected at Vancouver Island B. C. accord- 
ing to Dr. J. G. Cooper in Proc. Cal. Acad. Sciences, Dec. 31, 1887- 
R. E. C. STEARNS. 
Washington, D. C., Oct. 26, 1889. 
THE SHELL-BEARING MOLLUSCA OF RHODE ISLAND. 
BY HORACE F. CARPENTER. 
Venericordia borealis Conrad. 
Shell rounded, obliquely heart-shaped, thick and strong, inequi- 
partite; beaks prominent; elevated and recurved; surface with 
twenty ribs radiating from the beaks; three ribs are raised, rounded. 
and broad, with a narrow groove between each rib, crossed by 
coarse lines of growth and the whole surface covered with a strong 
rusty brown epidermis; hinge strong; teeth two in each valve; 
interior white; margin crenulated. Length one inch; height one 
inch; breadth 55. Inhabits from New Jersey to Labrador; gener- 
ally in deep water. It is often obtained from the stomachs of fishes. 
Mr. 8. I. Smith found specimens in Gardiner’s Bay, Long Island, 
and one specimen was found at Sandy Hook. I have found a few 
specimens at Block Island. In Maine it grows to a larger size than 
those found further south. Woodward quotes it from the Sea of 
Okhotsk, which if true, shows as wide distribution both in climate 
and in extent of coast. 
Another species, the Cyclocardia novangliz Morse, is quoted from 
Connecticut to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, deep water, but has not 
been found as yet in Rhode Island. 
