﻿450 
  Lt. 
  -Colonel 
  IT. 
  H. 
  Godwin-Austen 
  on 
  

  

  sideration 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  occurred 
  to 
  me 
  as 
  possible 
  that 
  shells 
  

   of 
  a 
  species 
  hatched 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  wet 
  hot 
  season, 
  vthen 
  food 
  is 
  

   abundant, 
  will 
  present 
  a 
  generally 
  more 
  tumid 
  shape 
  than 
  

   those 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  species 
  produced 
  during- 
  a 
  year 
  of 
  drought. 
  

   The 
  collector 
  soon 
  notices 
  that 
  species 
  of 
  many 
  genera 
  vary 
  

   locally, 
  even 
  at 
  distances 
  of 
  only 
  100 
  miles, 
  even 
  less, 
  

   geological 
  formation 
  having 
  much 
  to 
  say 
  to 
  the 
  change, 
  or 
  

   tlie 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  wooded 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  Taking 
  any 
  large 
  place, 
  say 
  Maritzburg 
  in 
  Natal, 
  it 
  would 
  

   be 
  most 
  dithcult 
  to 
  define 
  what 
  was 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  bush 
  or 
  

   jungle 
  when 
  the 
  earlier 
  European 
  settlers 
  came 
  there. 
  Still 
  

   more 
  dithcult 
  in 
  its 
  immediate 
  neighbourhood 
  to 
  strike 
  the 
  

   spot 
  where 
  the 
  earliest 
  conchologists 
  obtained 
  their 
  typical 
  

   shells. 
  Stations 
  in 
  India 
  tell 
  this 
  story 
  in 
  an 
  equally 
  strong 
  

   way, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  led 
  to 
  give 
  an 
  example 
  or 
  two. 
  The 
  virgin 
  

   forest 
  m 
  which 
  Darjiling 
  was 
  once 
  buried 
  is 
  gone. 
  Slopes 
  

   of 
  the 
  hills 
  facing 
  Peshawur, 
  which, 
  in 
  1854, 
  when 
  I 
  was 
  

   there, 
  had 
  a 
  fair 
  amount 
  of 
  scrubby 
  growth 
  in 
  the 
  valleys, 
  

   must 
  now 
  be 
  bare. 
  Wood 
  brought 
  in 
  l)y 
  men 
  and 
  on 
  donkeys 
  

   was 
  coming 
  into 
  the 
  cantonment 
  day 
  by 
  day, 
  for 
  the 
  con- 
  

   sumption 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  garrison 
  ; 
  this 
  has 
  gone 
  on 
  ever 
  since 
  

   — 
  one 
  can 
  imagine 
  what 
  a 
  change 
  in 
  the 
  fauna 
  and 
  flora 
  must 
  

   have 
  been 
  produced 
  in 
  the 
  interval 
  of 
  sixty 
  years, 
  in 
  a 
  flora 
  

   not 
  to 
  be 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  richness 
  of 
  that 
  of 
  Darjiling. 
  

   Where 
  a 
  clean 
  sweep 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  mou.ntain 
  slopes, 
  

   invertebrates 
  have 
  not 
  a 
  chance 
  of 
  survival 
  over 
  thousands 
  

   of 
  acres. 
  

  

  Unfortunately 
  no 
  description 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  from 
  life 
  of 
  any 
  

   of 
  the 
  animals 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  placed 
  in 
  my 
  hands, 
  some 
  are 
  so 
  

   white 
  and 
  unspotted 
  they 
  give 
  one 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  being 
  bleached 
  

   in 
  the 
  preserving 
  liquid. 
  In 
  others, 
  again, 
  every 
  speck 
  is 
  

   preserved. 
  The 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  black-and-wliite 
  spots, 
  

   blotches, 
  and 
  bands 
  is 
  very 
  constant 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  batches 
  I 
  

   have 
  had 
  to 
  examine, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  a 
  reliable 
  

   character, 
  although, 
  possibly, 
  a 
  local 
  one. 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  more 
  

   conspicuous 
  in 
  life 
  or 
  shortly 
  after 
  preservation. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  following 
  species 
  the 
  examples 
  were 
  all 
  alike 
  : 
  — 
  

   Peltuttis 
  trotieriana, 
  5 
  examples 
  ; 
  Kerkophoi'us 
  phadinms, 
  5 
  ; 
  

   melvilli, 
  5 
  ; 
  poeppiyi, 
  5 
  ; 
  vitalis, 
  6 
  ; 
  kucospira, 
  10 
  ; 
  bicolor, 
  '6 
  ; 
  

   tonyaultnsis, 
  12 
  ; 
  one 
  example 
  white 
  throughout, 
  no 
  mottlinu-, 
  

   another 
  similarly 
  white, 
  with 
  slight 
  mottling. 
  

  

  Where 
  several 
  species 
  are 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  locality, 
  

   we 
  may 
  expect 
  to 
  find 
  a 
  certain 
  number 
  of 
  hybrid 
  forms. 
  

  

  Before 
  giving 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  this 
  examination, 
  I 
  must 
  offer 
  

   my 
  sincere 
  thanks 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Dohrn 
  for 
  so 
  kindly 
  entrusting 
  these 
  

  

  