115 



these shells, and yet you will scarcely find a spot in 

 Maine yielding a richer harvest to the conchulogist. 



Helix albolabris, Helix alternata with its cjiirious albino 

 variety, two of the three species of Succinea in Maine, 

 many species of the minuter Helices with Zua and vari- 

 ous Pupidce literally cover, in places, the ground and 

 the rank stems of the weeds which luxuriate in the guano- 

 enriched soil. Could the Helix hortensis have been im- 

 ported from the gardens of England to mingle with these 

 native shells? 



LIMN^EA COLUMELLA. 



The second point of interest we found was a deposit of 

 fresh, water shells at the pond on the top of the hill. 

 Bodies of fresh water in this country exhibit a large num- 

 ber of shells, several of the genus called Limnaea. The 

 kind frequenting this pond is the Limnaea columella, a 

 shell which does not exceed one-half inch in length, and 

 is often much smaller. While exploring the shores of 

 the pond we saw what seemed to be a deposit of seeds, 

 but on stopping to examine it we found it to be a com- 

 plete mass of very minute shells. There was not one 

 that was one-eighth of an inch long. They seemed like 

 little yellow grains of glass. I never saw such immense 

 quantities of them as you may find along the margin of 

 that pond. You might gather millions of them. Every 

 stick and rock was covered with them. There they lie, 

 millions of them, dried up upon the margin of that water. 

 We could not get a single specimen that was grown up. 

 They reach their highest state of development early in 

 the spring, and after leaving their eggs, the business of 

 their life being concluded, they die. We found a num- 

 ber of dead adult shells there. Thus this mollusk follows 

 the law of progress. Having fulfilled its function it 

 leaves the rising ireneration to carry on the work. I never 



