LIFE OF J. R. WILLIS— PIERS. 407 
tions, a list of the birds of Nova Scotia,* from notes made in 
1852-5 by Lieutenants Blakiston and Bland. 
By 1857 Willis had gathered an extensive collection of our 
shells, which he forwarded to Dr. A. A. Gould for examination 
and identification Ina similar way Dr. E. Foreman lent him a 
helping hand. Thus at various times we find boxes laden with 
precious shells being despatched to and from these naturalists for 
determination, examination or exchange. He also corresponded 
and exchanged with many other scientists, who seemed to be 
only too anxious for any information they might obtain 1egard- 
ing the natural history of our Province. Among these may be 
mentioned Dr. Wm. Stimpson, Dr. P. P. Carpenter, Sir J. W. 
Dawson, Sir Wm. Denison (Governor of Madras), Professor John 
Capellini (of the University of Bologna, Italy), Hon. Rawson 
Rawson (of the West Indies), Dr. C. J. Cleborne, Prof. E. D. Cope, 
and many others. It was in 1857 that his first known list of 
Nova Scotia shells was published. 
Willis gave to the museum of King’s College, Windsor, a large 
collection of native shells, consisting of about 123 named and 124 
unnamed specimens. To this he added in after years. He pre- 
sented a similar collection to Acadia College, Wolfville. His 
gifts, however, were not confined to conchology alone, for we find 
him repeatedly quoted as a donor of various articles to these and 
other institutions, 
In 1859 he sent a box of Nova Scotian shells to the Smithsonian 
Institution where they were to be compared by P. P. Carpenter 
and W. Stimpson with the types in the museum of that Institu- 
tion, and labelled accordingly. In reference to these shells 
Stimpson, in a letter to Willis, says: “I have as yet had time 
only to look them over ina general way, but I assure you even 
this cursory examination has convinced me that you have done a 
great service to our noble science, by discovering several shells 
on our coast which had escaped us all, thereby enriching our 
fauna and extending the geographical range of North European 
species.” He adds a list containing nine species new to this coast 
and rewarks: “There! If that starts your enthusiasm as it does 
*See Bibliography on a later page, No. 2. 
