RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



71 



Shell oval-elongated, thin, smooth, and 

 shining; apex acute, suture distinct ; whorls 

 seven oi- eight, the body whorl three-fourths 

 the length of the entire shell ; aperture 

 long and narrow ; lip simple, with two or 

 three white teeth on the inner margin. 

 Length one-third, breadth one-eighth of an 

 inch. 



This is probablj' not a native species, 

 although found in most of the sea-ports 

 from New York to Nova Scotia. It inhabits 

 Central and Southern Europe and the south 

 and southwest of Englantl, and may have 

 been imported into this country, clinging to 

 the sides of ships. It is quite common in 

 Boston on old wooden wharves, where it 

 follows the tide as it ebbs and flows. 



Lieutenant Brown found it at Newport, 

 R. I., and his specimens were described 

 under the name of Melampus borealis, in 

 Silliman's Journal, XXIII., 345, 1833. In 

 some places it is found on isolated stones, 

 which are submerged at high tide. It is 

 never seen away from the vicinit}' of salt- 

 water, and being an air breather, it must 

 take in a supply of air sufficient to last 

 during an hour or more, in which it is com- 

 pletely under water. It will live several 

 days away from salt water, but becomes be- 

 numbed and dies on immersion in fresh 

 water. Although common at Newport, I 

 have never been able to find an}' around the 

 wharves in Providence. Probably the 

 water here is not clean enough for them. 

 It is a mystery how anj'thing can live in it 

 or near it. 



119. Carychium Exiguum, Say. 

 Syns. : 



Pupa exigua. Say, Gld., DeKay, Adams, 

 Binne}'. 



Bulmimus exiguns, Binn. 



Carychium exile, II. C. Lea, Troschel. 



Carychium exiguum, all modern authors. 



The genus Carychium is widely distribu- 

 ted over the north temperate portions of the 

 earth ; the}- are found from Siberia and Lap- 

 land as far south as Spain and Ital}'. One 

 species is found in India on the shady side 

 of mountains at an elevation of 5,000 to 

 9,000 feet. C. exiguum, Say, is the only 

 species of the genus in America, and has 

 been found in almost every state in the 

 Union. It is a beautiful little shell, white, 

 translucent and shining, tapering gradually 

 to a rather obtuse apex ; whorls fine, con- 



vex, ver}' oblique, with transverse strial ; 

 aperture obliquel}' oval, white ; lip tiiick- 

 ened, with a slight projection on the outer 

 margin, and another, more prominent tooth 

 on the parietal wall. Length, one-sixteenth, 

 breadth, one-fortieth of an inch. When the 

 animal is moving along over the leaves the 

 shell is carried in a horizontal position. 



Binne}' says : " Around Boston it is found 

 at or below the surface in swamps, growing 

 among mosses." Morse says: "Lives in 

 very wet and boggy places in woods." Its 

 habitat in Rhode Island seems to be very 

 different. On the 4th of July, 18G6, the 

 first carychium exiguum was found in Rhode 

 Island. Twenty 3'ears ago the little village 

 of Albion was out in the countr}', and over 

 on the Cumberland side of the Blackstone, 

 were deep thick woods. High up on the hill 

 in the shadow of the dark woods was a 

 stone wall running north and south ; on the 

 east side of this wall were piled heaps of 

 dead leaves, two or three feet deep, appar- 

 ently having been undisturbed for years. 

 It was among these leaves I found more 

 than a hundred specimens of this tin}' spe- 

 cies. The next year I again visited the 

 spot, and obtained about twenty more. 

 Since then the woods have been cut down, 

 several houses built near, and the localit,y 

 destroyed by hens, which have scratched 

 the leaves all over, and probably devoured 

 the few remaining mollusks living under 

 them. From that time until last summer 

 I never found another specimen, and 

 thought no new localit}' would ever be dis- 

 covered ; but a new one has been found, 

 and a better one that the first. In the town 

 of Johnston, just beyond Neutaconkanut 

 Hill, over in the woods on the left side of 

 the road, are some ancient lime-pits, where 

 two hundred j-ears ago or more, somebody 

 excavated for lime in these hills. The 

 holes are partly full of water in winter and 

 spring, but are dry or nearly so, and filled 

 with dead leaves in summer, and that is the 

 time to go and the place to find enough C. 

 exiguum to satisfy even a co. lector for ex- 

 changes. (To be continued.) 



A MAN who lived in the swamp daily 

 prayed to Jupiter for health. "Pray from 

 the hill-top, and your prayer will be 

 granted," answered Jupiter. — H. C. Ful- 

 ton. 



