Mr. L. Reeve on the Geographical Distribution of the Bulimi. 249 



calvus from James Island, and B. Darwinii and sculpturatus, of 

 which the particular island has not been noted, are all typically- 

 distinct from the Bulimi of the neighbouring continent. A spe- 

 cies has however been very recently discovered, B. achatellinus, 

 partaking of the character oi Achatinella, an allied genus of snails 

 confined to some of the Polynesian Islands. The Bulimi of 

 the Gelepagos Islands seem, nevertheless, to be purely aboriginal, 

 living among dried tufts of grass, upon comparatively leafless 

 bushes, or under detached pieces of lava, and presenting indica- 

 tions of the volcanic nature of the soil and desert character of 

 the vegetation. 



The Polynesian Islands have no Bulimi except one or two small 

 transparent ground-burrowing species, B. Antoni and Oparanus 

 from the island of Opara, B. Tuckeri from Hardy's Island, and 

 B. Sandwicensis from the Sandwich Islands. Their absence is, 

 however, compensated by the presence of two other genera of 

 land snails which are not found anywhere else. In the Society 

 Islands the Bulimi are represented by the Partulce, and in the 

 Marquesas, Friendly, Sandwich, and Navigators' Islands, by the 

 Achatinellce. 



II. The Eastern Hemisphere. 



The Bulimi of the eastern hemisphere are more partial in their 

 character and distribution than those of the western, owing to 

 there being less explored land within the parallels of latitude in- 

 closing the conditions most favourable to their existence. In 

 West Africa they are replaced by a tribe of large Achatina. 

 But in the localities which they inhabit within this intertropical 

 area, comprising chiefly the islands of the Indian Archipelago, 

 they are more numerous in species in proportion to the extent of 

 land. The Bulimi of the old world have a wider range in the 

 warm temperate regions, and the geographical position of the 

 genus is more insular than continental. As many species have 

 been collected in the Philippine Islands alone as in the whole 

 extent of continent between Sweden and Cochin China. The 

 eastern Bulimi, comprising about two hundred and fifty spe- 

 cies, present three grand typical provinces of distribution, which 

 may be termed the Caucasian, the Malayan, and the African. The 

 limits of these provinces are well-marked, and they possess no 

 species in common. The species are all distinct from those of 

 the western hemisphere. 



] . T7ie Caucasian Province. 



The Caucasian province has its centre in Asia Minoi-, and oc- 

 cupies an area extending west and east over the southern coun- 

 tries of Europe and Asia to the opposite shores of North Africa. 



