Original Descriptions of Achatinella . 47 



li A. vulpina Fer. was described as sinistral species, and ac- 

 cordingly the name was applied to only sinistral specimens. 

 The dextral varieties of this species were described by Reeve 

 under the names of A . producta and A. bilineata, while the name 

 vulpina was transferred by him to another species, which we 

 have described as A. varia, to which was added, as a variety, 

 the distinct species A. livida Swains., and also by Pfeiffer, 

 A. stcwarti Green. Other dextral specimens which have been 

 described by Dr. Newcomb under the names A. venulata and 

 A . liybrida, differ from the dextral type chiefly in the arrangement 

 of the color, which I think are not specific characters, if indeed 

 they are natural. A. venulata, Var. A, I take to be the green 

 variety of A. stewarti. A. johnsonii and A. aplustre Newc. are 

 fine specimens of A. byronii, the one entirely, and the other par- 

 tially deprived of its epidermis. The name A. byronii has given 

 place to A. pulcherrima, which belongs to a species similar in out- 

 line, but of very distinct affinities. A. livida Swains, is much 

 smaller than A. vulpina Fer. and quite distinct. Its allied species 

 are A. carta, recta, undulata, emersonii Newc, and A. glatcca Nob. 

 It has the colored suture of the first, and the greenish lead color 

 of the last two. 



"The difference between A, producta Rve. and A. vulpina Fer. 

 is no greater than is constantly found between dextral and sinistral 

 varieties; and A. bilincata Rve. has long been considered by Dr. 

 Newcomb and others as only a variety of A. producta; there are 

 also sinistral specimens lined in the same manner, which differ 

 from the typical A. vulpina in no other respect. 



"My specimens of A. ve?iulata, hybrida, Johnsonii and aplustre, 

 were, I think, from the same source as Dr. Newcomb's, and pur- 

 ported to come from the same locality, which was then yielding 

 many new species. I have since explored all that part of the 

 island, and none of these species were found, nor any whose affini- 

 ties indicated an approach to the home of such forms. But as I 

 departed from the valleys near Honolulu into Kolau, I found the 

 varieties and species differing more and more from that type. The 

 unavoidable inference is, that instead of being from Kolau, they 

 are from the valleys near Honolulu, where A. vulpina, and stewarti 

 abound. The strength of this inference will be best appreciated by 

 those who are acquainted with the limited distribution of the groups, 

 as well as of the species of -this genus, and the relation between 

 their geographical distribution and the graduation of their types. 



"Moreover the peculiar markings of these specimens do not 

 extend within the aperture, where they would also appear if nat- 

 ural. The pink band of A. aplustre is cut off abruptly at the aper- 

 ture, in entire variance from the laws of the arrangement of color 

 which prevail in this genus. 



