lvii 
distribution of Coleoptera in Madeira, and read the following 
notes on a Journey to the Madeira Islands. 
“Ever since I visited Madeira in 1879, I had longed to 
return and further investigate its natural history. The 
chance came last December, and my wife and I were able to 
spend nearly three months on the islands, including a couple 
of weeks in Porto Santo. The winter season is not the most 
favourable, but flowers bloom all the year round, and insects 
may always be obtained. It is not yet possible to report at 
all fully on the collections, but some interesting facts have 
come to light. 
“ Off the island of Porto Santo are several smaller islands, 
almost every one having one or more forms of snails entirely 
confined to it. These snails may be regarded as races of 
species of the main island in the majority of cases, but 
Gesmitra turricula of the Itheo de Cima is a very distinct and 
remarkable species. This endemism, in islets quite near the 
shores of Porto Santo, is most conspicuously exhibited by 
the snails, but we were able to find some evidence of it among 
the apterous Coleoptera living under rocks. These beetles 
were determined with the kind assistance of Mr. K. G. Blair 
at the British Museum, using the materials in the Wollaston 
and general collections for comparison. The genera concerned 
are Helops (Tenebrionidae) and Scarites (Carabidae). 
‘“ Helops is represented in the Madeiras by a_ peculiar 
group, which has been placed in the subgenus Nesotes 
Allard. The exception is a single specimen of H. pallidus 
Curtis in the Wollaston collection from Porto Santo; it 
has not been found there since, and was doubtless introduced. 
Nesotes has, outside of the Madeiras, several species in the 
Canaries, one in the Azores, and one in the Balearic Islands. 
The group thus appears to belong to the so-called Atlantic 
fauna, and probably dates back to the beginning of the Tertiary. 
Wollaston had already observed a high degree of local endemism 
among the species of Helops. Three species are from Porto 
Santo only. He did not, apparently, investigate the forms 
of the smaller islets. The small Itheo de Nardeste, which has 
two kinds of snails peculiar to it, also proves to have a Helops, 
which may be defined thus :— 
