78 THE LAND AND FRESHWATER MOLLU80A OF DORSETSHIRE. 



Conchology," stands pre-eminent for its fulness and elaborate 

 detail ; I have also availed myself of M. Moquin-Tandon's 

 work " Historic Naturelle dee Mollusques Terrestres et 

 Fluviatiles de France," of Forbes and Hanley's " History of 

 British. Mollusca and their Shells ; " I have also consulted 

 Draparnaud's "Mollusques Terrestres et Fluviatiles de la 

 France," Dupuy's " Mollusques Terrestres et d'eau douce qui 

 vivent en France," and for local references, Montagu's "Tes- 

 tacea Britannica," "Descriptive Catalogue of the British 

 Testacea," by Maton and Eackett (being part of the eighth 

 volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society), and lastly 

 Doctor Pulteney's "Catalogue of the Shells of Dorsetshire," 

 published in 1799, a revised edition of which was brought out 

 alter his death, in 1813, by the Eev./ Thomas Eackett, Eector of 

 Spettisbury. 



I cannot, without injustice to the memory of Doctor Pulteney, 

 omit some reference to that distinguished naturalist. Although 

 not a native of Dorsetshire, he adopted it for his home. 

 He was born at Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the year 

 1730, and received his medical diploma in 1764. Soon after 

 that date he settled down at Blandford, where, a favourable 

 opening for his professional career offering itself, he soon 

 succeeded to a good practice. In the year 1762, he was elected 

 a Fellow of the Eoyal Society, and of the Linnean Society soon 

 after its commencement. Although Doctor Pulteney was so 

 eminent a botanist, his talents were not confined to this branch 

 of Natural History only. He assisted Da Costa in the com- 

 pilation of his British Conchology, and supplied him 

 with shells from the Dorsetshire coast. He describes 35 

 land and freshwater shells in his ' Catalogue of Shells found 

 on the Dorsetshire coast ;" this number is increased to 62 in 

 the revised edition by the Eev. T. Eackett. The present list 

 swells the number to 101, leaving only 24 British land and fresh- 

 water species unrepresented in the County of Dorset. 



