ue N Aprius. 
W.OE: IX: DECEMBER, 1895. No. 8 
NOTES OF A CONCHOLOGIST IN JAPAN. 
BY JOHN B. HENDERSON, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
It was my good fortune to accompany the Hon. John W. Foster 
on his diplomatic mission to Japan and China last winter. Official 
duties and the disabilities placed upon me by a suspicious military 
guard prevented me from doing very much collecting, although I 
eagerly seized such few opportunities that came my way to gather 
in the tempting array of mollusks that generally seemed near at 
hand. 
There can be no more delightful country in the world to collect 
in than Japan. The natives are always pleasant and courteous and 
often show a disposition to assist. ven my solemn escort at times 
so far forgot pride and dignity as to remove their swords and wade 
in the muddy rice fields to capture the “dobukai.” Land and fresh- 
water shells are abundant almost anywhere. The mountain sides 
are especially rich in that variable Helicid group of Fulota (Eu- 
hadra) luhuana, its many forms and varieties. Clausilias cluster 
together in old stumps, and the rice fields fairly swarm with Corbi- 
cula, Vivipara and Melania. One rainy day at Nikko, a coolie 
brought me a branch of mulberry, upon which seventeen fine speci- 
mens of Euhadra brandti were crawling. 
The only marine collecting I could do was at Shimonoseki, and in 
the neighborhood of Nagasaki. Both these localities are delight- 
