66 JOUKNAI. OF CONCHOI.Or.y, VOL. 13, NO. 3, JULY, 19T0. 



the extensive grounds attached to Blawith House, consists of quite 

 primitive woodland, more or less clothed with a thick natural wood 

 composed mainly of hazel, ash, oak and hawthorn, with occasional 

 hollies and other trees and shrubs, the relics, no doubt, of the dense 

 primeval forests recorded by Tacitus as covering almost every part of 

 the coast and the interior of the country around Morecambe Bay— 

 with the exception of some portions of the higher ground — at the 

 time of the great invasion of the district by the Romans under 

 Agricola, A.D. 79. 



The hazel is by far the most abundant tree and the locality was 

 formerly well-known for its rich harvest of nuts each autumn. There 

 is no trace at all of it ever having been a garden and no introduced 

 trees, such as conifers, have been planted there. Practically no soil 

 covers the surface of the ground, which consists principally of angular 

 limestone debris, resulting from the disintegration of the underlying 

 rock. A series of small rock terraces, covered in places with moss 

 and ivy, occurs along the western side, and on the south the area is 

 bounded by the steep cliffs on Lindale Road. The general appear- 

 ance and slope of the ground afford ample evidence, that, before the 

 cutting of the road and railway, the woodland extended right down to 

 high-water mark, similar to Arnside Park point on the opposite shore 

 of the Kent. 



In dry weather, and during the day, the shell is very difficult to 

 procure, but may be found in fair numbers concealed amongst the 

 large tufts of grass, oxeye daisy, and other plants growing on the 

 ledges and in the crevices of the limestone cliffs. Though seeming 

 to prefer the more open and exposed ledges of the cliffs, the species 

 also occurs in the woodland above, among loose stones, dead leaves 

 and moss, rarely under fallen timber. One striking feature of the 

 habitat is its extreme dryness; there appears to be little, or no, 

 percolation of water down the face of the cliffs, and, even after con- 

 tinuous and heavy rains, one or two dry days reduce it to its ordinary 

 parched-up condition. 



The species is associated on the cliffs with several of its congeners, 

 and large numbers of Helicella caperata and Hygroinia riifescens, Ena 

 obscura, Clatisilia Indentata, and a number of other smaller species 

 also occur, more or less abundantly. A few examples of Arion ater, 

 Agriolimax agrestis, etc., may be found in the long grass at the foot 

 of the cliffs, but living specimens of V. lucida appear to be scarce so 

 low down. Dead shells of H. caperata and H. rufescens especially, 

 are to be found abundantly on the ledges and in " pockets," along 

 with numerous dead mature shells of V. lucida. From the compara- 

 tively fresh condition of many of the two former species, it seems not 



