232 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS A LIST OF THE 



MARINE MOLLUSCA OF THE UPPER PORTION 



OF LOCH LINNHE, ARGYLLSHIRE. 



By G. a. frank KNIGHT, M.A., Bearsden, Glasgow. 



(Read before the Conchological Societ}', July 5th, 1893). 



I am uncertain whether any record of conchological re- 

 search in the upper part of Loch Linnhe has hitherto been 

 submitted to the Society, and I have therefore pleasure in 

 tabulating the results of a few weeks' stay during 1891, at 

 Onich, near Balachulish. This village lies at the head of Loch 

 Linnhe proper. On the north, however, the loch is continued 

 through Corran Narrows under the name of Loch Aber, till it 

 joins the Caledonian Canal, while on the east also, under the 

 name of Loch Leven, it winds at the base of the peaks which 

 overhang the savage pass of Glencoe. 



The peculiarity of the locality is the double system of tide 

 races, occasioned by the narrow entrances of the latter two 

 lochs. Loch Aber, for instance, empties itself at an ebb speed 

 of often nine to twelve miles an hour, and the result is the 

 formation of two gigantic banks which line the channel, the 

 western being known as Salachan Point, the eastern as Cuil- 

 chenna Point. The latter, especially, is rich in moUusca ; at 

 low water it is bare for about one third of a mile, and for 

 another third it is only two to four fathoms under water. Then 

 comes a sheer descent of further twenty fathoms, to the natural 

 level of the surrounding sea bottom. Nowhere in the neigh- 

 bourhood is the depth greater than twenty-four fathoms, except 

 in a few holes towards Balachulish, known to fishermen. 



I may say that my dredging was conducted alone, and in 

 this way only a light dredge, one weighing nine pounds, with 

 twelve inch blades, could be used. When a stiff breeze sprang 



J.C, vii., Oct. 1893. 



