266 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY. 



THE LAND AND FRESHWATER MOLLUSCA OF 



OBAN AND THE ISLAND OF LISMORE. 



By R. STANDEN and J, RAY HARDY, 



(Read before the Manchester Branch, September 14th, 1893). 



We visited Oban in the early part of last August, in com- 

 pany with our friends, Mr. W. H. Heathcote, Dr. G. W. Chaster, 

 and Captain W. J. Farrer, for the purpose of doing some marine 

 dredging, and during our stay we devoted several days to the 

 investigation of the Land and Freshwater MoUusca of the 

 district around Oban, and the neighbouring Island of Lismore. 



A full day's research to the South, and another to the 

 North of Oban was participated in by the whole party, and 

 another day we two were landed on Lismore, whilst our steamer 

 took the others into the Sound of Mull to dredge, calling for 

 us in the evening. We also made various short excursions in 

 the immediate vicinity of Oban, and searched several valleys 

 and woods along the road to Loch Etive. 



The geological features of Oban are at first sight not par- 

 ticularly promising — conchologically. The town stands upon a 

 strip of the old Red Sandstone, which extends on the North 

 along the coast as far as Dunstaffnage, and on the South to 

 Loch Feochan, and our search was confined to this area. The 

 woods are principally pine, which, as all conchologists know, 

 usually indicates barren ground for shells. But behind Oban 

 there are plenty of clumps of other trees, and groves of hazel, 

 and both these and the pine woods are undergrown with a dense 

 coating of moss, etc., kept damp in many places by the trickling 

 of water from the cliffs, and such places yielded a fair number 

 of species to our close search. 



The Island of Lismore is entirely composed of a hard 

 metamorphosed limestone, and we searched it with a particular 

 interest. It was one of the early Christian settlements, and as 

 its sheltered valleys were brought into a high state of 



J.C, vii., Oct. 1893. 



