Mollusks. 7401 



Occurrence of the Dory (Zeus Faber) near Hartlepool. — On the 13th of February, 

 I860, a fisherman from Hartlepool brought me a fish which he did not know; it 

 proved to be a small but good specimen of the Dory. It was 13 inches long, and 

 about 6 inches broad. This is the first occurrence of this fish on our coast with which 

 I am acquainted. — John Hogg, in * Transactions of the Tyneside Naturalists' Field 

 Club; iv. 336. 



Eel caught in a Field. — My man has just brought me in a large eel which he 

 caught in ihe middle of a slubble field. There is an old pit in the stubble field with 

 a little water in it. The length of the fish is 39^ inches, girth 8j inches ; weight 

 4 lbs. 12 oz. I never knew an eel caught in this way before : perhaps you will know 

 if it is usual for eels to leave the water at this time of the year. The colour of the fish 

 is very good. — George Hoult {in the ^ Field') ; Crown Breiverg ; Whittle Springe, near , 

 Chorley, Lancashire, December 13, 1863. 



Snails as Food for Sheep. — Several writers in the 'Field' newspaper have lately 

 mentioned the circumstance of the sheep in Devonshire eating snails, and one writer 

 believes this novel food gives its admitted superiority to Devonshire mutton. Is the 

 species thus eaten by the sheep that mentioned in the following communication? 

 —Edward Newman. 



Notes on Helix revelata.—Oa the llth of December a friend from an inland towu 

 called upon me for the purpose of being made acquainted with Asplenium mariuum. 

 As I greatly wished that my friend should see this fera in its native luxuriance, he 

 was conducted to the semi-marine rocks and caves of Whilsand Bay, on the south 

 coast. In a large plateaued ravine that led from the lop of the cliffs to the beach, 

 patches consisting of hundreds of plants of Erodium marititnum were to be seen, and 

 on them and the surrounding herbage appeared large numbers of node-like forms, 

 which a closer scrutiny revealed as Helix revelata. A new feature observed on this 

 occasion is that this shell was exposed on the uppermost parts of the herbage. At all 

 other times when requiring this mollusk I have had to seek it in its haunts, which are 

 generally under objects that offer sufficient shelter to the animal. In June, whilst 

 collecting plants for the herbarium, H. revelata was near ihe roots or under the foliage 

 of Erodium cicut.irium, Trigonella ornithopodioides, Trifolium subterraneum, T. sca- 

 brum and Ornithopus perpusillus, and also about many other plants of recumbent 

 growth. The state of the atmosphere in June was damp, in December it was wet, 

 and had been for several days in like condition. H. revelata is a plentiful species in 

 the above-named locality. In parched seasons H. revelata is concealed under cover of 

 the many objects that are found in Nature suitable for the purpose. Thus in dry 

 weather it is deeply hidden between the line of demarcation, where the herbage ceases 

 to grow at the base of rocks and stones. It is likewise to be found snugly burrowed 

 some inches under the surface of the ground, about the outline of clumps of furze. 

 Other facts observed on the llth of December, and worth recording, are: first, 

 there were many full-grown dead shells lying on the turf ; secondly, these shells were 

 mostly in as good condition as the living shells, for the colour, the epidermis, together 

 with the hairs thereon, were well preserved. Whilsand Cliffs consist of dry sloping 

 rocks of slate, having no pools and very few streamlets. In summer time, when there 

 is summer weather, the greater part of the cliffs and slopes are as a desert deserted, the 

 turf is so scorched. As the head habitat in Britain for H. revelata is on the above- 



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