Revieics — Scharff^s Origin of the J^urojjean Fauna. 423 



Mollusca, Geomalacus maculosus, Pupa Anglica, Helix fusca, and 

 if. pisana ; the beetles, Ehopalomesites Tardyi, Earynehria com- 

 planata, and Otiorrkynclius auropunctatus. Among the Irish wood- 

 lice, Platynrtlirus Hoffmanseggii belongs to this first division, as well 

 as the Hemipteron Lygus atomarius and the millipede Polydesmus 

 Gallicus, Some of the species peculiar to Ireland have their nearest 

 relatives confined to the south-west of Europe, e.g. Tegenaria 

 Hibernica, which is closely related to the Pyrenean Tegenaria 

 larval 



" The badger (Meles taxus), is for our purposes a South European 

 type of the second subdivision, though it originated probably in 

 Asia. The following Mollusca also belong here : Reiix aculeaia, 

 IT. rufescens, H. virgata, H. acuta, S. nemoralis, and many others ; 

 also the beetle Strangalia aurulenta." '^ (p. 430.) 



On the Accidental Dispersal of Animals and Plants. — Referring to 

 the accidental means of dispersal of animals and plants Dr. Scharfif 

 observes (p. 434) : " As regards Ireland, I believe the animals 

 derived from accidental or occasional means of dispersal amount to 

 five per cent, of the whole fauna at the most. Land and fresh- 

 water mollusca are generally looked upon as particularly liable to 

 accidental dispersal." After quoting the experiment of Baron 

 Aucapitaine, who, having immersed living Cyclostoma elegans for 

 a fortnight in the sea, found that almost all of them survived, he 

 adds : " Supposing Ireland had been stocked in this manner with 

 (land-)shell8, we should expect operculate species, or even such which 

 provide themselves with a membranous diaphragm during winter 

 to be abundant. But this is not the case. Neither Cyclostoma 

 elegans nor Helix pomatia, the two species which were experimented 

 on, inhabit Ireland, though both occur in England and in France. 

 Moreover, as a matter of fact, the shells of the former species have 

 again and again been washed ashore within recent years upon the 

 Irish coast ; but though this must have been going on for centuries, 

 yet Cyclostoma elegans has not established itself in this country. 

 The only Irish operculate land-shell {Acme lineata) lives per- 

 manently underground, and is therefore less liable to accidental 

 transportal than the other species." 



i':s «s o «* o 



" It is full}' admitted that many animals and plants are easily 

 transported to new countries by accidental means, or voluntarily 

 by man, but in most cases they have not been able to retain a 

 permanent footing in their newly-adopted home. There are in- 

 numerable instances on record of species having been planted on 

 spots where they did not previously exist, and the introducers claim 

 that it is highly interesting to watch their progress. In the great 

 majority of cases we find that, fortunately, these species utterly 

 vanish after a few years." (p. 435.) 



^ The following Irish plants may be mentioned : Arbutus unedo, Euphorbia 

 mberna, Simethis bicolor, and Sibthorpia Europea. 

 ^ Cotyledon umbilicus, and other plants, probably belong to this type. 



