THE NAUTILUS. 33 



and I found that the resistance was not that of a hard substance, 

 but became less as my knife went farther under the rock and soon I 

 had a big chiton, Stenoradsia Magdalensis Rve., on my knife !**=:= 

 Near where we found the Comis in the moss, in a shelving rock so 

 close to another rock below it in the water that Ave could not remove 

 it, we found a huge chiton. To get it out, it was necessary to break 

 the sandy rock with a hatchet. There they lie, Stenoradsia Magdal- 

 ensis, so close together that in less than three feet of the layer of 

 rock that was chipped off we found over one dozen ; some almost 

 four inches in length ! Just as they were collected from their damp 

 environment they presented a beautiful appearance. On the outside, 

 as well as inside, save three or four old fellows, the shells were a 

 bright pink, like the interior of a pink-lined sea shell. 



In a mossy carpet on a wet rock I found chitons, Mopalia ciliata 

 and M. lignosa imbedded in the rock. Sometimes the Chitons 

 were entirely covered with moss and could only be detected because 

 the moss seemed to be growing in a circle. In the moss the Chitons, 

 on the outside, were green and brown like the moss around them ; 

 under and between the rocks, they were pink ; when found in little 

 depressions in boulders out of the Avater, they were almost the exact 

 color of the stone on which they lived. These were mostly the Cluc- 

 topleura Hartwigii Cpr. Here as elsewhere environment seems to 

 play a most important part. Are specific differences merely the 

 chanjrins: forms due to environment alone ? 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CONCHOLOGISTS. 



June 28, 1890. 



The annual election for officers of the association took place by 

 correspondence, as provided for in the rules, during the week com- 

 mencing June 4th. The president, John H. Campbell and the 

 secretary, Charles W. Johnson were unanimously re-elected. For 

 vice-president several of the members were honored with the votes 

 of their associates, but most of those voting, were of the opinion that 

 it would be well to have the vice-president live in the same place as 

 the other officers, particularly during the first year, so that Mr. John 

 Ford of Philadelphia received more ballots than all the other per- 

 sons voted for and was declared elected. ]Mr. Ford is one of the 

 best-equipped conchologists in America. For many years he has 



