37 
of the United States. The animals of Valvata tricarinata and humeralis are the 
most beautiful that I know. Anyone who has examined them in a dish of water 
with a magnifier, and has seen their branched. gills or lungs, of a delicate white 
color, thrust out over the head, and the whole body of clegant form arrayed in 
most delicate shades of green and gray, will agree with me in saying that they 
are to be placed among the most beautiful of living creatures. 
The only Melania found here is M.-liviscens, which is very plentiful and has great 
variety in colorand form. Inthe Rideau River itis generally olive and more pertect 
towards the apex than those in the Ottawa, which are sometimes of a rich brown, 
occasionally banded with darker revolving zones. There is also a difference in 
the shape of the aperture. 
Verv fine Limnx stagnalis are to be found in the [Lideau Canal, but it is 
common elsewhere. 
Limnea gracilis, Say, a shell new to the Canadian list, was found by me in 
the rapids above Billings’ Bridge. I obtained two specimens, one very fine but 
dead, and the other but a fragment. Iam sure there will be other specimens 
found, in the future, in this favored spot. 
It is to be noticed that the fresh-water shells are not so constant in their 
characteristics as the land shells. This great variety in form, etc., has led to 
many mistakes in naming, and it is now said that Limnea elodes, umbrosa, reflexu, 
caperata, decolata and catascopium are all one and the same shell. 
Physa elongata, Say, is found everywhere during summer in dried-up 
ponds with Sphertum occidentale, under leaves and rubbish, but stil alive. Many 
of the shells are very large, even larger than Mr. Say’s specimens got in the 
State of Illinois. A few of my specimens were as much as eight-tenths of an 
inch in length. This shell is the same, I think, as Physa hypenorum ot Europe. 
Lam again fortunate in being able to add two more shells : Physa lordi, Baird, 
and P.-brevispira to our lists. The last was tound by the late Mr. Billings and 
named by Dr. Isaac Lea, but it was not generally known and was never put into 
any list, being considered but a variety of P.-ancillaria. Itisthe P.-brevispira ot 
Lea, found by Mr. Billings, or a new shell. Iam inclined to regard it as new, 
and, therefore, claim a place for it in our list. It is common in the Rideau 
River, about the rapids, and will, I think, be found in the Ottawa. 
Physa lordi 1 found in Meech’s Lake, among the mountains, fourteen miles 
north of Ottawa, in the month of October, on the occasion of our last excursion. 
This shell, Iam told, has been found only in the mountains of Oregon and 
British Columbia. It appears to be confined to the mountainous districts ; while 
Physa heterostrophiaand ancillaria are only found on the plains and in the valleys. 
Meech’s Lake is about 400 (?) feet above the sea, and is surrounded by the 
Laurentian rocks. It contains but few gasteropods. I only got five or six 
Limnea stagnalis, and but one Planorbis bicurinatus, but there are vast quantities 
of small Unio complanatus. 
The different species of Planorbis are generally plentiful in all ponds and 
rivers; but St. Louis Dam, Rideau Canal and River, are favorite haunts. 
Planorbulina armigera, Say, appears to be rare; I only found a single specimen 
during the season, and that dead. 
The Helices, or land snails, are found in secluded, damp and fertile places. 
They are found in greatest number in hard-wood forests, especially when the old 
trees are cut down and there is a second growth of timber, and are a sure indica- 
tion of fertility of soil; but not unfrequently by old fences, and along the banks 
of rivers under pieces of board. The last is the peculiar haunt of J/elix nitida of 
Muller, now for the first time added to the Canadian list. I found my first spe- 
cimens near the Hog’s Back Rapids, on the Rideau River, but afterwards I found 
many more near the Show Grounds, on the Rideau Canal, in company with //elix 
labyrinthica, and Vertigo ovata, Say. Helix Sayii, Binney, does not appear to be so 
rare as in other parts of Canada, Helix (Bulimus) lubrica, Muller, is very com— 
