president's address. 205 



original coloured drawings of the shell and animal of Pleurotomaria 

 Quoyana, from which the figures in the ' Blake ' ^lonograph were 

 drawn. Mr. Fi;lton has openly put iipon our table collections of 

 shells, notably of Amphidromiis, of exceptional completeness and 

 perfection, such as are only brought together under a labour of love ; 

 whilst, with his Comis gloria-maris, Mr. Sowerby has appealed to our 

 aesthetic as well as to our common sense. 



The exhibition of skiagraphs of shells and living molluscs by 

 Mr. J. Green and Mr. J. H. Grardiner is especially noteworthy, as 

 marking the most extensive and first systematic attempt to apply the 

 latest epoch-marking discovery in physics to the study of our chosen 

 class of animals. To be able to see the clausium tlirough the shell- 

 wall, and to determine the se])tal lines and muscular impressions of 

 the JVautilus shell, prior to the removal of the animal contained 

 within it ; to bo able to work out the valve-slits of a Poly- 

 placophoran, while the plates are yet in situ beneath the girdle ; and 

 to detect the folds on the columella of Voluta the whole way up, even 

 on the further side of the shelly pillar, is to be in possession of a new 

 and powerful method of observation, which must be productive of good 

 results. Mr. Green and Mr. Gardiner, in having shown us how 

 best to proceed with this, have done us a most useful service. 



So long as we are in a position to maintain the present standard of 

 our exhibits, we need have little fear of lack of interest in our 

 meetings. 



AVith extending influence, it is only reasonable to suppose that the 

 sympathies of others will be accorded us ; and I am very happy to 

 infoiiu you that the Rev. J. E. H. Thomson, who last year went into 

 residence at Safed, has most willingly undertaken to dredge and 

 collect for us during the next three or four years in Galilee and the 

 neighbouring Lakes, the necessity for investigating the moUuscau 

 fauna of which was emphasized by the late Paul Fischer. 



My friend and former pupil, Mr. J. E. 8. Moore, has just returned 

 from the African Lakes with a goodly dredging of MoUusea, including 

 materiid for the study of development; and I am hopeful that ere long 

 we may see some of them upon our table. 



With a view to extension of our influence with exploiters, our 

 Council early in the year considered a scheme for the compilation of 

 a series of directions for search, capture, and preservation of Mollusca. 

 A small Committee was formed, with two members for each department 

 of the work, and their notes are now in an advanced stage. In 

 taking this step, your Council were encouraged by the success of 

 the issue by the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 

 of their " jS^otes and Queries," and were especially mindful of the 

 necessity for securing accurate observations upon the Land-shell Fauna 

 of the Oceanic Islands, before the disturbing influences of the settler 

 and his flocks and herds render them for ever unattainable.' 



' It is sincerely to be hoped that should the plea of the British Association 

 Committee for the exploration of the Islands of the Pacific lead to action, the 

 Laud Mollusca will receive adequate attention. 



