38 CURRENT LITERATURE. 



in number, all peculiar, and consist of Nanina (3 sp.), Charopa (3, possibly 6, 

 3 more being, probably wrongly, attributed to the island by Pfeiffer), 

 Diplommatina (4), Bithinella (2), Parmella, Microcystis, Patula, Placostyhts, 

 Simpulopsis [a most unlikely identification], Tornatellitia, Omphalotropis, Realia, 

 and Onchidium (1 each). Thus the fauna is markedly Polynesian. The 

 occurrence of a Placostylus is exceedingly interesting, and places the island in 

 connection with N. Caledonia and N. Zealand rather than with E. Australia, 

 although three times as near Australia as it is to either N. Caledonia or 

 N. Zealand. [An examination of a chart, however, will show that Lord Howe's 

 Island lies nearly on the west extremity of a long ridge of comparatively shallow 

 water, under 1,000 feet, which stretches in a north-westerly direction from 

 N. Zealand towards the E. coast of Australia, but abruptly terminates in about 

 long. 158 E.]. The marine mollusca are of the Indo- Pacific type. This fact is 

 remarkable, since on the E. Australian coast the mollusca of this type are 

 generally regarded as not penetrating further south than Cape Sandy, which is 6 

 degrees further north than Lord Howe's Island. 



Heude's " Notes on the Terrestrial Mollusca of the Blue River." 

 (Xachr. Deutsch. Malak. Gesell., Jan. and Feb., 1892.) 

 Von Mollendorff has some highly polemical criticisms on the last instalment 

 of Heude's " Notes on the Terrestrial Mollusca of the Blue River " (Vang-tse- 

 Kiang). He falls specially foul of Heude's treatment of the genera Myxostoma, 

 Rhiostoma, and the land operculates in general. The new Heudean genera 

 Fargcsia and Hemibia have already been characterised {Pseiuiopomatias and 

 Prososthenia), Mesostoma and Rivularia are, respectively, a typical Pupina and a 

 group of Paludina. 



Mollusca of the Madeiran Isles. (Journ. Conch., p. 1, 1892.) 



The Rev. R. Boog Watson discusses the relation of the L. and F. Mollusca 

 of the Madeiran Isles to those known elsewhere. The distribution of the Mollusca 

 is one to which serious attention is now being given, and Dr. Watson's paper 

 bristles with queries on some very perplexing points. 



Marine Mollusca of North Wales. (Journ. Conch., p. 25, 1892.) 



Mr. Tomlin contributes some interesting additions to the Molluscan fauna of 

 the coast of North Wales, including the Nudibranchs and Cephalopods. 



Remarks on Australian Slugs. (Ann. and Mag. N. H., p. 370, 1892.) 



Mr. Cockerell replies to Mr. Hedley's criticism, showing "that on every single 

 point mentioned, Mr. Hedley's criticism is without sufficient reason." 



The Mollusca of the Red Sea. (Ann. Sci. Nat., vol. xii., pp. 343-363.) 



Dr. Jousseaume adds a large number — some 200— of species to the known 

 fauna, amongst them a brachiopod, a new species, and the first found in this 

 locality. Mr. Edgar A. Smith's views upon the Red Sea fauna are confirmed, 

 viz., that it is practically that of the Indian Ocean, and has no relations with 

 that of the Mediterranean. He discusses the variation of the Mollusca, and 

 strongly believes in the reality of " species," considering that each varies within 

 certain definite limits, and that one species is always distinguishable from another. 



Mollusca of Southport and District. (Southport Soc. Nat. Sci., pp. 32-38, 

 1S92.) 

 Dr. Chaster' s list enumerates 175 forms, including L. F. & M., and is an 

 evidence of careful work. The system of classification adopted detracts some- 

 what from the value of the list. 



Land and Freshwater Shells peculiar to the British Isles. (Nature, 

 p. 76, May, 1S92.) 

 The unsatisfactory state of our knowledge of the inland Mollusca of the British 

 Isles is, in the opinion of Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell, due to two causes, " firstly, 

 that so many conchologists consider varieties, and especially slight varieties, to be 

 of little or no importance ; secondly, because those who study our native shells, 



