RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



47 



vegetable life, common or identical in two 

 countries separated by an ocean, excepting 

 those introduced by accident or inten- 

 tionall}', thus becoming acclimated. 



I do not believe a single species of ter- 

 restrial or fluviatile shells inhabiting the 

 American Continent, to be identical with 

 one from any other countrj-, excepting such 

 species as Hyalina cellaria, Tachea horten- 

 sis, and a dozen or so of others which can 

 easily be accounted for. In the case of the 

 marine shells, a few of the Arctic species 

 ma}' be identical in Great Britain, Norway, 

 Iceland, Greenland and British America. 

 Thus, Lacuna vincta is an European 

 species, is common in England, and was 

 described by an English author. I have 

 specimens from the coast of Maine which 

 resemble the European shell ver}' much and 

 may be the same species, but those found 

 in Rhode Island do not resemble the Maine 

 specimen or the English ones at all. The 

 description does not applj' and its habits 

 differ entirely from that given by authors, 

 viz. : " Found alive among the roots of 

 Laminaria and other marine plants, at- 

 tached to stones or shells, dragged up by 

 storms from deep water." 



We find them in our bay on the sea-weed 

 in company with Bittium nigrum, by 

 wading in the water a foot or more in 

 depth, and even above low-water mark, and 

 on floating sea-weed also. Our specimens 

 are not over one-quarter of an inch in length, 

 the bands on the body whorl var3'ing from 

 one to four, generally a brown narrow line 

 just below the suture, then a broad band of 

 light color, and then two alternate lines of 

 dark and light ; some of them have a white 

 line near the suture and another at the 

 base, with a broad brown band between ; 

 one specimen I have seen has an ivory-white 

 line at the suture, then a narrow chocolate 

 line, then an ash3'-gray broader band, then 

 another narrow chocolate line and another 

 white one, followed by two more alternate 

 brown and white ones, terminating in a 

 brown base. 



These shells all have the peculiar fissure 

 at the umbilicus, proving them to be 

 Lacunae, and as no other species of this 

 genus appears to inhabit this section, may 

 it not be a new species V Possibly they are 

 all young shells, as I have never seen any 

 but full-grown ones from other localities. I 



shall be pleased to have the opinions of 

 other conchologists on this subject. 



Family 35. Planixidte, three genera 

 and about eightj' species, all absent from 

 our fauna. 



Family 36. CerithiidjB, six genera and 

 about three hundred species, is represented 

 in Rhode Island b}' two genera, Cerithium 

 and Triforis, descriptions of which will be 

 given in the next chapter. 



[To be continued.) 



June Insects. 



During this leafj^ month, when nature's 

 pulses beat most strongly, insect-life is at its 

 acme. The army-worm marches through 

 meadow and grain-field, and a host of destruc- 

 tive species gather force and spread dismay. 

 The woods and meadows abound in gaudy 

 butterflies, and multiform caterpillars feed 

 voraciously. The commoner firefly (Photi- 

 nus py rails) rises slowly from the moist 

 ground at eve, and intermits its soft, glow- 

 ing light. But the month is chiefly char- 

 acterized by the appearance of that singular 

 periodical, or seventeen-year Cicada (Ci- 

 cada septendecim), with its tredecim, or 

 thirteen-year race. The woods rattle with 

 its hoarse beat about the first of the month, 

 and broods appear in some locality or other 

 nearly every year. The present year ( 1 885 ) 

 is a memorable one ; for a veiy extensive 

 seventeen-year brood, which appeared last 

 in 1868, and has been fully recorded every 

 seventeen years since 1715, may be looked 

 for on Long Island and in Monroe County, 

 N. Y., in southeastern Massachusetts, in 

 parts of Vermont, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 

 Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia, 

 in northwestern Ohio, in southeastern 

 Michigan, in Indiana, and in Kentucky'. — 

 Science Almanac. 



Powder made from the pounded flowers 

 of different species of Pi/rethrum is a deadly 

 poison to the most of insects, while it is in- 

 nocuous to man. It is now being cultivated 

 in enormous quantities in California under 

 the name Bahach. — Canadian Science 

 Monthly. 



Ventilate your sleeping apartment every 

 day after arising; but warm it to comfort 

 before sleeping in it again. — Sanitary Glean- 

 ings. 



