434 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



some to unite it vei-y nicely with other species in the group. Under one 

 species^ are described no fewer than forty-two color varieties! Some are 

 bluish-gray, others ashy-chestnut wnth black bands. Some are with two bands, 

 others have three. Others are white or yellowish at the base, reddish-gray 

 above, with a dark spiral line between. Others, again, are smaller and more 

 elongatedly ovate. Still others are thinner than the typical varieties. Some 

 have the spire more convex and colors less streaked, and so on. to the end that 

 almost every specimen collected is found upon close examination and compari- 

 son to vary, much or little, from its next neighbor. But, unfortunately for 

 the collector, this remarkably variable species, name and ;i]l, in the opinion of 

 a second authority, is reduced to the rank of a synonym under the name of 

 one of the other species ■* in the Fulgens group of our first authority, and in 

 company with a species-"' from Waimea Valley, at the extreme opposite end 

 of the Koolau range that has been carefully referred by our first authority to 

 an entirely separate group, the range of the species is thus made to extend 

 over this chain of mountains from end to end ! 



AVith such confusion in almost every species, it is little wonder that all 

 those who collect Hawaiian land shells — and there are those in Honolulu who 

 have private collections numbering into scores of thousands of specimens — 

 are looking patiently forward to the completion of the work* by the more 



Note: — Since the nianuscript for this chapter was written, Vohinies XXI (1911) and 

 XXII (1912-1914), and a more recent su2:)plenient to Vohime XXT, of the Manual of Con- 

 chology have appeared. Both volumes are splendidly illustrated with colored plates and 

 include syuonomy and descriptive text treating fully the Hawaiian terrestrial Amastridte and 

 the tree-dwelling Aehntinellid(e. This review of these interesting families of land molhisks by 

 Dr. Henry A. Pilsliry, with the assistance of a num])pr of h)cal collectors, has been anxiously 

 awaited by students and conchologists generally. The volumes are in every way praiseworthy, 

 and are indispensable to those who are interested in this section of the Hawaiian fauna. 



Volume XXI is devoted to the sub-family Amasirince, which in the subsequent volume is 

 elevated to full family rank (Amastridae). It is made to include seven Hawaiian genera, 

 namely: Leptachofina, with 117 species and a number of sub-species; Carelia, with eleven 

 species and nine sub-species and varieties; Pterodisciis, seven species, two sub-species; Plana- 

 mastra, two species; Armsia, one species; Amastra, 114 species with numerous sub-species and 

 varieties; LamineUa, fourteen species and six sub-species and varieties, the last genus being 

 arboreal in habit. 



Volume XXII treats fully of the true Achatinellidse, recognizing three well-defined genera, 

 namely: Newcombia, Pariuliiid and Acliaiitiella. The Partulina are further divided into four 

 (Pcrdwella, Partulina, Boldiriiiiana, EunieUa), and the Ac]>atnielki into three (Bidiniella, 

 AchatineUastntm, Acliatinella) sections. The genus Neiccomhia includes nine species and 

 three sub-species; Partulina, fifty-one species and a number of sub-species, varieties and 

 forms; and AcJtatinella forty-one species with a very large number of sub-species and minor 

 forms. In the appendix to Volume XXII, and the sup]dement mentioned, as many as two 

 score of species an<l sub-species are described, in addition to the large numbers of new S])ecies 

 described in the text of the volumes. They are divided quite equally among the various 

 genera in proportion to the number of forms already known, and represent graphically the 

 progress made during the period (1911-]9]o) of puldication towards a more comidete syste- 

 matic knowledge of the land shell fauna of the group. The rajiid increase in new species 

 indicates that the possibility of collecting new forms is by no means exhausted. A comparison 

 of the text and synonomy of these later volumes with the earlier (1900) work of Mr. E. R. 

 Sykes will show the sweeping changes that have taken place in the nomenclature during the 

 period of fifteen years. 



It is to be hoped that the remaining families of Hawaiian air-breathing molhisks (Pul- 

 monata) may receive a similar review by the author of these epoch-fixing volumes at an 

 early date. 



Arhatitielln )iluiii(it<i. * Arhnfuiflln hiiddii. ^ AchathirUti ctpsia. 



