Miscellaneous. 355 



into consideration the observations of M. 0. Hertwig, which they 

 regard as erroneous. My 8U])i)osition seems to me to refer all the 

 phenomena at present ascertained to a single fundamental process, 

 and not to he contradicted by any known fact. — Comjttes liendua, 

 Feb. 5, 1S77, p. 208 



On Ifu lltaUty of certain Land MoUusks. By lloBT. E. C.Stearns. 



I submit for the inspection of the Academy a liWng specimen of 

 Bidiinus pallidior, Sby., one of nine given to mo by Prof, (ieorge 

 Davidson, who collected them at San Jose del Cabo, Lower California, 

 in March lb73. 



These sniiils were kept in a box undisturbed until June 23, 187'^, 

 ■when I took them out, and, after examination, placed them in a 

 glass jar with some chickweed and other tender vegetable food, and 

 a small (piantity of tepid water, so as to make a warm humid atmo- 

 sphere. This hospitable treatment induced them to wake up and 

 move about after their long fast and sleep of two years, tiuo months, 

 and sixteen dat/s. Subsequently all died but this, which seems to 

 be in pretty good health, though not very active. 



It may be remembered that I mentioned before the Academy, at 

 a meeting in March 1807, an instance of vitality, in a snail {Helix 

 Veatchii) from Cerros Island, even more remarkable, the latter 

 having lived without food from 1859, the year when it was collected, 

 to March 1805, a period of six years. 



The famous specimen in the British Museum, which is cited in 

 the books. Helix desertorum, had lived within a few days of four 

 years, fastened to a tablet in one of the cases, when discovered to 

 be alive. 



Helix desertorum, as the specific name implies, is found in arid 

 and sterile areas in the continents of Africa and Asia, and has, as 

 will be perceived, a wide distribution. From the former continent, 

 I have specimens from Egypt ; and it also ranges through Arabia in 

 the latter. 



The Buliynus from the mainland of the peninsula of Lower Cali- 

 fornia, and Helix Veatchii from Cerros or Cedros Island, off the coast 

 on the ocean side of the same, come from within the same physical 

 environment, being comparatively a limited distance apart. 



The Jlelix belongs to an interesting and peculiar group, probably 

 varieties of one species, which includes, at present, the following 

 names — (1) Helix areolata, Sby., (2) H. Veatchii, Newc, (3) H. 

 pandora;, Fbs., and (4) H. l^fvis, Pfr. Other forms geographically 

 approximate may hereafter, on further investigation, be referred to 

 the same lineage. 



Of the above, (1) //. areolata was the first described ; or I should 

 say that this appears by the date to bo the first name bestowed 

 upon any member of the group. This species has been quoted from 

 Oregon, and (4) //. la>vis, from the Columbia river, in both cases 

 erroneously. The figures in • Land and Frebhv.uter Shells of North. 



