﻿163 
  

  

  NOTES 
  ON 
  AND 
  ADDITIONS 
  TO 
  THE 
  TERRESTRIAL 
  MOLLUSCAN 
  

   FAUNA 
  OF 
  SOUTHERN 
  ABYSSINIA. 
  

  

  By 
  H. 
  B. 
  Pkesiw, 
  F.Z.S. 
  

  

  Mead 
  IWi 
  May, 
  1910. 
  

  

  Having 
  recently 
  received 
  two 
  small 
  consignments 
  of 
  land 
  shells 
  from 
  

   the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  Harar, 
  Southern 
  Abyssinia, 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  occasion 
  

   to 
  study 
  the 
  somewhat 
  scanty 
  literature 
  on 
  the 
  Mollusca 
  of 
  that 
  

   country. 
  Judging 
  from 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  species 
  sent 
  home 
  from 
  Harar 
  

   alone, 
  the 
  fauna 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  extremely 
  rich 
  and 
  varied, 
  and 
  

   perhaps 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  surprising 
  when 
  the 
  configuration 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  is 
  

   taken 
  into 
  account. 
  A 
  glance 
  at 
  the 
  map 
  will 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  whole 
  

   region 
  is 
  a 
  long 
  series 
  of 
  chain 
  after 
  chain 
  of 
  mountains, 
  rising 
  to 
  an 
  

   average 
  altitude 
  of 
  4500 
  feet, 
  between 
  which 
  occur 
  very 
  hot 
  and 
  arid 
  

   valleys, 
  and 
  thus 
  it 
  is 
  scarcely 
  to 
  be 
  wondered 
  at, 
  considering 
  the 
  

   geographical 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  that 
  some 
  species 
  almost 
  of 
  

   a 
  palaearctic 
  character 
  should 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  others 
  

   which 
  certainly 
  have 
  great 
  affinities 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  damp 
  and 
  dense 
  

   forests 
  of 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  tropical 
  Africa. 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  probable 
  that 
  little 
  collecting 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  done 
  in 
  the 
  

   district 
  immediately 
  surrounding 
  Harar, 
  although 
  in 
  1874 
  Jickeli 
  ^ 
  

   noticed 
  and 
  described 
  many 
  forms 
  from 
  Abyssinia; 
  his 
  work 
  covered 
  

   the 
  then 
  known 
  Mollusca 
  of 
  a 
  scarcely 
  explored 
  tropical 
  country 
  

   nearly, 
  if 
  not 
  quite, 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  Spain. 
  Nine 
  j-ears 
  later 
  Boiirguignat 
  

   wrote 
  his 
  " 
  Histoire 
  Malacologique 
  de 
  I'Abyssinie 
  " 
  ", 
  in 
  which 
  

   a 
  number 
  of 
  new 
  forms 
  were 
  described 
  chiefly 
  from 
  Northern 
  and 
  

   Central 
  Abyssinia, 
  whilst 
  more 
  recently 
  M.M. 
  Neuville 
  and 
  Anthony 
  

   have 
  published 
  four 
  short 
  lists, 
  ^ 
  culminating 
  in 
  a 
  descriptive 
  paper* 
  

   based 
  on 
  the 
  material 
  obtained 
  by 
  themselves 
  as 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  

   expeditions 
  of 
  M. 
  Maurice 
  de 
  Rothschild. 
  Though 
  a 
  certain 
  amount 
  

   of 
  their 
  material 
  was 
  collected 
  in 
  the 
  Dirre 
  Daona 
  and 
  Tchercher 
  

   Districts, 
  the 
  former 
  directly 
  to 
  the 
  north, 
  and 
  the 
  latter 
  some 
  

   distance 
  to 
  the 
  east-south-east 
  of 
  Harar, 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  met 
  

   with 
  many 
  of 
  those 
  species 
  now 
  sent 
  home 
  from 
  the 
  immediate 
  

   vicinity 
  of 
  that 
  city, 
  and 
  I 
  think 
  there 
  can 
  be 
  little 
  doubt 
  that 
  when 
  

   the 
  whole 
  country 
  is 
  carefully 
  and 
  extensively 
  explored 
  the 
  local 
  

   fauna 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  extraordinarily 
  ricli 
  one. 
  All 
  the 
  

   following 
  species 
  are 
  from 
  Harar, 
  Southern 
  Abyssinia. 
  

  

  " 
  Fauna 
  der 
  Land 
  und 
  Siisswasser-Mollusken 
  Nord-Ost-Afrikas 
  " 
  : 
  Nov. 
  Act. 
  Ksl. 
  

  

  Leop. 
  -Carol. 
  Deutsch. 
  Akad. 
  Naturforscher, 
  Dresden, 
  1874, 
  vol. 
  xxxvii. 
  

   Annales 
  des 
  Sciences 
  Naturelles, 
  Zool., 
  t. 
  xv, 
  1883. 
  

   Bull. 
  Mus. 
  Hist. 
  Nat. 
  Paris, 
  1905, 
  No. 
  2, 
  p. 
  115; 
  No. 
  3, 
  p. 
  196; 
  1906, 
  No. 
  5, 
  

  

  p. 
  319 
  ; 
  No. 
  6, 
  p. 
  411. 
  

   " 
  Recherches 
  sur 
  les 
  Mollusques 
  d'Abyssinie 
  (Materiaux 
  de 
  la 
  Collection 
  Maurice 
  

  

  de 
  Rothschild) 
  " 
  : 
  Annales 
  des 
  Sciences 
  Naturelles, 
  Zool., 
  t. 
  viii, 
  1908. 
  

  

  