224. 



The Galapagos Islands contribute about ten species of Bulimus, small 

 in size and of a dusky hue, agreeing in this respect with what has been 

 observed by Mr. Darwin in reference to the dusky colour of the birds and 

 insects. B. eschariferus and rugulosus from Chatham Island, B. ustulatus, 

 mix, and tmifascialus from Charles Island, B. Jacobi and mgifenis from 

 Jacob Island, B. calvus from James Island, and B. Darwinii and sculp- 

 turatus, of which the particular island has not been noted, are all typically 

 distinct from the Bulimi of the neighbouring continent. A species has 

 however been very recently discovered, B. achatellinus, partaking of the 

 character of Achatinella, an allied genus of snails singularly confined to 

 the Sandwich Islands. The Bulimi of the Galapagos Inlands seem, never- 

 theless, to be purely aboriginal, living among dried tufts of grass, upon 

 comparatively leafless bushes, or under detached pieces of lava, and pre- 

 senting obvious indications of the volcanic nature of the soil and desert 

 character of the vegetation. 



The Polynesian Islands have no Bulimi except one or two small trans- 

 parent ground-burrowing species, B. Anloni and Oparanus from the island 

 of Opara, B. Tuckeri from Hardy's Island, and B. Sandwicensis from the 

 Sandwich Islands. Their absence is, however, compensated by the pre- 

 sence of two other genera of land-snails which are not found anywhere 

 else. In the Society, Marquesas, Friendly, and Navigators' Islands the 

 Bulimi are represented by the Partulce ; in the Sandwich Islands by the 

 Achalinellee. 



The Bulimi of the Eastern Hemisphere are more partial in their cha- 

 racter and distribution than those of the western, owing to there being less 

 explored land within the parallels of latitude enclosing the conditions most 

 favourable to their existence. In West Africa they are replaced by a tribe 

 of large AcAatinee. But in the localities which they inhabit within this 

 intertropical area, comprising chiefly the islands of the Indian Archipelago, 

 they are more numerous in species in proportion to the extent of land. 

 The Bulimi of the old world have a wider range in the warm temperate 

 regions, and the geographical position of the genus is more insular than 

 continental. As many species have been collected in the Philippine 

 Islands alone as in the whole extent of continent between Sweden and 

 Cochin China. The eastern Bulimi, comprising about two hundred and 

 fifty species, present three grand typical provinces of distribution, which 

 may be termed the Caucasian, the Malayan, and the African. The limits 

 of these provinces are well marked, and they possess no species in com- 

 mon. The species are all distinct from those of the western hemisphere. 



7. The Caucasian Province. 



The Caucasian province has its centre in Asia Minor, and occupies an 

 area extending west and east over the southern countries of Europe and 



