﻿248 
  Panama 
  Shells. 
  introduction. 
  

  

  distributed. 
  We 
  have 
  been 
  under 
  obligations, 
  which 
  we 
  ac- 
  

   knowledge 
  with 
  much 
  pleasure, 
  to 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  A. 
  Gould, 
  of 
  Boston, 
  

   and 
  to 
  John 
  H. 
  Redfield 
  and 
  Robert 
  L. 
  Stuart, 
  Esqrs 
  , 
  of 
  

   New-York 
  City, 
  for 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  books 
  ; 
  also 
  to 
  the 
  librarians 
  

   of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Athenaeum, 
  of 
  Harvard 
  University, 
  of 
  the 
  Acad. 
  

   Nat. 
  Sciences, 
  of 
  Philadelphia, 
  and 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Henry 
  Wheatland, 
  of 
  

   the 
  Essex 
  Institute 
  in 
  Salem 
  ; 
  chiefly 
  have 
  we 
  been 
  indebted 
  

   to 
  the 
  nearly 
  complete 
  zoological 
  library 
  which 
  Drs. 
  T. 
  B. 
  and 
  

   Edward 
  Wilson 
  have 
  presented 
  to 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Natural 
  

   Sciences 
  of 
  Philadelphia. 
  

  

  On 
  Errors 
  Respecting 
  the 
  Habitat 
  of 
  Species. 
  

  

  Those 
  who 
  are 
  familiar 
  with 
  the 
  frequency 
  and 
  

   magnitude 
  of 
  the 
  errors, 
  which 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  works 
  of 
  

   the 
  most 
  celebrated 
  authors 
  respecting 
  the 
  habitats 
  of 
  

   species, 
  will 
  not 
  probably 
  accuse 
  us 
  of 
  presumption 
  for 
  the 
  

   little 
  ceremony 
  with 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  treated 
  such 
  statements. 
  

   Hearsay 
  testimony 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  received 
  without 
  sufficient 
  

   scrutiny. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  errors 
  likely 
  to 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  ver- 
  

   bal 
  communicationof 
  statements 
  respecting 
  habitat, 
  naturalists 
  

   at 
  home 
  are 
  of 
  course 
  subject 
  to 
  all 
  the 
  mistakes 
  which 
  the 
  

   original 
  collectors 
  may 
  have 
  made. 
  These 
  persons 
  often 
  mix 
  

   the 
  collections 
  made 
  in 
  various 
  places, 
  and 
  depend 
  on 
  memory 
  

   for 
  the 
  localities, 
  although 
  they 
  are 
  often 
  unable 
  to 
  distin- 
  

   guish 
  the 
  species 
  when 
  placed 
  side 
  by 
  side.* 
  

  

  Another 
  class 
  of 
  errors, 
  we 
  fear, 
  must 
  be 
  laid 
  to 
  the 
  charge 
  

   of 
  the 
  writers 
  themselves. 
  When 
  we 
  see 
  a 
  marine 
  species 
  

   affirmed 
  to 
  inhabit 
  the 
  Mediterranean, 
  Senegal, 
  the 
  Indian 
  

  

  * 
  Thus 
  we 
  have 
  received 
  from 
  an 
  intelligent 
  shipmaster, 
  -who 
  was 
  accustomed 
  

   to 
  collect 
  for 
  a 
  couchologist, 
  specimens 
  of 
  Cyclostonia_^flavidum, 
  witli 
  the 
  positive 
  

   assurance 
  lliat 
  they 
  were 
  collected 
  in 
  a 
  spot 
  well 
  known 
  to 
  us, 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  King- 
  

   ston, 
  Jamaica. 
  Yet 
  the 
  species 
  occurs 
  only 
  in 
  Porto 
  Rico, 
  while 
  the 
  locality 
  in 
  

   Jamaica 
  contains 
  a 
  Cylindrella 
  of 
  similar 
  aspect. 
  We 
  may 
  be 
  allowed 
  to 
  mention 
  

   also 
  an 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  mistakes 
  of 
  locality 
  and 
  not 
  of 
  species 
  

  

  