The Tree Shells of Hawaii 



Vaughan MacCaughey 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction in Hawaii 



The snails in most countries creep about on the ground, among 

 the dead leaves, or on low vegetation. They feed upon decaying 

 plant material and are found in moist localities where such food is 

 abundant. In the Hawaiian Islands, far out in the middle of the ' 

 North Pacific Ocean, there are many beautiful snails that live up 

 in the trees. There are about 400 kinds in the Hawaiian forests, 

 and none of these are to be found anywhere else in the world. 

 There are no tree-snails in the mainland United States. 



The Hawaiian tree-shells first became known to Europeans 

 through a shell necklace carried back from Hawaii to London by 

 Captain Dixon, the circum-navigator, about the time of the Ameri- 

 can Revolution. From that time until the present, the Hawaiian 

 shells have been eagerly collected by almost every naturlist who 

 has lived in the Islands. 



The woodlands of Hawaii are very different from those of 

 temperate regions. Many of the forests are exceedingly wet, so 

 rainy that they are called ' ' rain-forests' ' . The ground is soggy and 

 covered with ferns. The trunks and branches are heavily clad with 

 wet mosses. Tree-ferns are abundant in the rain forests. The 

 snails are plentiful in these rainy mountain woodlands, which are 

 at elevations of 1000 to 6000 feet above the sea. Some of the 

 snails creep about in the wet rubbish on the ground, but most of 

 them live up in the trees and bushes, from five to fifty feet above 

 the ground. 



The average length of the mature shells is from one-half to one 

 inch. They are practically all cone-shaped spires, with a relatively 

 large opening and graceful outlines. The shell is strong and rigid 

 in proportion to its size, but not thick enough to prevent the moun- 

 tain rats from gnawing holes through it for the sake of the juicy 

 meat within. The mountain rats were formerly abundant and 

 among the chief enemies of the snails. Like the spiral shells of 

 other regions, some turn to the right and some to the left. 



The shells are beautifully colored. There are various tints of 

 brown, cream, gray, green, yellow, and pearly white. Many 

 kinds have conspicuous dark spiral bands. Some are plain white 

 or gray. Nearly all of them are brightly enamelled. A cabinet 



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