THE CONCIIOLOGIST. 



27 



CONCHOLOGICAL SOCIETIES, &c. 



THE CONCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, LEEDS. 



AT the last meeting, the chair being occupied 

 by Mr. J. W. Taylor, F.L.S., vice-presi- 

 dent, an interesting paper by the Rev. 

 John McMurtrie, D.D., M.A., of Edinburgh, 

 was read, " On the Land and Freshwater 

 Mollusca of the Island of Eigg," and was 

 illustrated by a full set of the specimens 

 collected, all of which the author most kindly 

 presented to the Society's collection. The 

 paper was based on these specimens and 

 on observations made by the author during 

 two visits to the island, in August, 1888, 

 and July, 1890. His time was not wholly 

 devoted to natural history, but numerous 

 likely places were searched with some care. 

 Eigg (pronounced " Egg") is one of the inner 

 Hebrides, lying midway between Skye and 

 the Point of Ardnamurchan, and is one of 

 a group of isles from which but few records 

 of shells have as yet been made. Politically 

 it is in the county of Inverness, though the 

 other islands. Muck, Rum, and Canna, which 

 together with Eigg make up the ecclesiastical 

 parish called Small Isles, are in another 

 county, that of Argyll. The island is six 

 and a half miles long by four miles broad. 

 Cieologically it is of great interest ; the pre- 

 vailing rock is basalt, which is over a large 

 part of the island disposed in columns like 

 those of Staffa, but on a colossal scale. The 

 " Scuir of Eigg," conspicuous to the voyager 

 on those western seas, is of splendid columnar 

 basalt, 1,339 feet in height. The conchologist 

 who knows only South and East Scotland 

 finds himself on this island in the presence 

 of new and unfamiliar forms of molluscan 

 life. Where the land slopes gently to the 

 sea, Bulimus aailus is almost as plentiful 

 on the grassy shores as it is on the Downs 

 of Cornwall or the Isle of Wight ; and Helix 



ericetoriim is as abundant as at Dover or 

 Folkestone, though smaller and usually with 

 a raised spire. Pupa rhigens keeps company 

 with the familiar F. niiihilicaia on the under 

 side of stones. In the few places where 

 damp moss and dead leaves can accumulate, 

 Zonites radiati/liis is evidently not scarce, and 

 its rare variety, viridescenti-alba, may be found 

 under stones. The species is probably common 

 in North-western Scodand, as Mr. McMurtrie 

 has had it also from Gairloch shore, West 

 Ross-shire. Nead-na-Feannaig (the crow's or 

 corbie's nest) is the name of the summer 

 home of the family of the proprietor of the 

 island. The burn which flows beside it to 

 the sea has been taken possession of by 

 the white variety of Ancyhis Jluviatilis, to 

 the exclusion of the type. A rill in the 

 interior, on the way to the Singing Sands, 

 contained only the var. gibbosa of the same 

 species. A colony of Helix aspersa which 

 here approaches its northern limit in Britain, 

 has established itself at the foot of the 

 minister's glebe, on the east side of Eigg, 

 close to the sea. Helix J'lisca is also one 

 of the species found, and numerous forms 

 of H arbnstoruiii. The slugs include all tiie 

 British species of Arioii^ as well as Limax 

 arboniin and Z. agrestis. Liniticea peregra 

 is the only water shell in addition to Ancylus. 

 Zonites cellariiis, Z. alliarius, Z. nitidulus, 

 Z. pnriis, Z. crysiaUiims, and Z. fulvus, Helix 

 neinoralis^ H. korle/isis, H. sericea, H. rotitn- 

 daia, Clatisilia rtigosa, and Zua lubrica in 

 addition to those specially mentioned, make 

 up the tale of the " Eigg shells," which 

 number 28 species, nearly all of which are 

 fresh records. The other proceedings of the 

 meeting included the election of seven new 

 members, as follows -.—Lady Lyons, of 

 Kilbrough, Swansea ; Mr. G. E. Hadow, of 

 South Cerncy, near Cirencester; Mr. W. J. 

 Farrer, of Virginia, U.S.A.; Mr. C^sar Felix 



