248 AMASTRA, MOLOKAI. 



from the fauna of the Hawaiian Islands, or are, indeed, al- 

 ready extinct. The two specimens found "by Mr. Perkins have 

 lost their periostracum, but others in the British Museum, col- 

 lected forty years ago, are in far better condition. The 

 species is, in form, of the group of A. turritella Fer., -and has 

 the blackish periostracum usually found on the species of 

 Amastra from Lanai " (Sykes) . 



The figure published by Mr. Sykes does not seem to repre- 

 sent the type-specimen, as the length is indicated as 17 mm. 

 Possibly the length " 11.75 " is an error for 17.5 mm. No 

 comparison seems to have been made with A. mcesta; and as 

 no differential characters are given, I admit it as a variety 

 with some hesitation. 



AMASTR^E OF MOLOKAI. 



Molokai is formed of a lower western mass culminating in 

 Mauna Loa, 1382 ft. elevation, and a higher, deeply-furrowed, 

 forested, eastern mass. The western half is dry and unfor- 

 ested, having been in very much this condition for at least 

 a century. So far as we know, not a single land shell is 

 known from this region, but it was probably once forested, 

 and if so, fossil shells will probably be found. Possibly some 

 still survive in the higher, rougher portions, but so far as we 

 know, none have been reported. 



' ' The only forest now remaining in the mountains of Molo- 

 kai is found at elevations above 1500 feet at the east end of 

 the island. This forest is inaccessible [for economic pur- 

 poses] on account of the precipitous character of the moun- 

 tains." 



It is in this forest that the Molokaian snails live. 



"While the Amastrae of Molokai are on the whole closest to 

 those of Maui, yet their relationship to those of Lanai is 

 hardly less intimate. The Laminellae are nearer those of Maui. 



The Achatinellida of Molokai have been treated monogra- 

 phically by Herr Fr. Borcherding, in his Achatinellen-Fauna 

 der Sandwich-Insel Molokai, Zoologica, xix, Heft 48, 1906; 

 196 pp., with 9 beautiful colored plates and a map. It is an 

 excellent and useful work. I hesitate to mention that in my 



