Miscellaneous. 199 



at the same time the suckerless region became slightly depressed, 

 forming a broad furrow which, becoming deeper, soon gave the body 

 a renilbrm appearance. On the surface of this groove there appeared 

 some approximated striae, which, under a high power, were resolved 

 into regular rows of little points or mamillse, which increased ra- 

 pidly, becoming elongated into short rigid points, not much thinner 

 than the suckers. The latter continued to disappear more and more 

 in the body. The furrowed region gradually increased on both 

 sides until it formed a girdle round the body ; and the points or ma- 

 millse of this belt, becoming more and more elongated and slender, 

 formed long and thin vibratile cilia which began to oscillate gently. 

 The suckers had then almost entirely disappeared. The body then 

 became elongated pretty rapidly, in such a fashion that the region on 

 which the fir«t rudiments of vibratile cilia appeared was at one of its 

 extremities. This the author calls the anterior end. The body was 

 at the same time depressed in a direction vertical to the plane of the 

 ciliated belt, thus acquiring a more or less regular elongated form, 

 slightly flattened, and ciliated only on its narrow periphery, the 

 broad surfaces being quite destitute of cilia. The movements of 

 the vibratile cilia at the same time became more distinct and caused 

 some slight oscillation of the body. Lastly, the suckers retired com- 

 pletely within the body, the cilia vibrated more and more strongly, 

 the elongation of the body was completed, and the Fudophrya moved 

 through the water turning upon itself, but with the anterior extre- 

 mity always in front. In the case of stalked individuals the body 

 was detached by a few feeble shocks or by turning two or three times 

 upon itself. All these transformations occupied only half an 

 hour. 



The period of activity varies in length in different individuals. In 

 becoming again immol)ile the Podophrya passes in inverse order 

 through the stages above described : the suckers first appear ; the 

 body shortens and becomes l^roader ; the vibratile cilia are retracted 

 gradually ; the body is gradually rounded, and in about twenty mi- 

 nutes resumes its globular form with its surface covered with long 

 suckers. The same individuals were observed to pass several times 

 through the whole series of metamorphoses. The author concludes 

 that Podoplirya Jixa does not suit its name, as it is the most vagabond 

 of known Acinetiua ; he regards it as an intermediate type uniting 

 the Infusoria Suctoria to the true Infusoria Ciliata. — Comptes Rendus, 

 November 13, 187G, p. 910. 



Helix villosa, Draparnaud. 



Mrs. David TJobertson, of Glasgow, found four living specimens of 

 this land shell, in August 1873, on the moors near Cardiff, Glamor- 

 ganshire, while searching for Ostracoda in the ditches. It is an 

 addition to our Mollusca. if. villosa inhabits Germany, the east of 

 J'rance, and Switzerland ; and it often occurs at considerable heights 

 above the level of the sea. The variety aJpestris or alpicola of H. 

 arbusiorum has the same difference of habitat : this usuallv is an 



