347 



CONCHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM CHILE AND BRAZIL. 



By LIONEL E. ADAMS, B.A. 

 (Plate VL). 



(Read before the Society, 9th December, 1914). 



On December 1 1, 1913, we arrived at Santos with a cargo of railway 

 stock from Antwerp, and during our stay in that port, with the kind 

 guidance of Mr. HarUng, a correspondent of one of the members of 

 this Society, I was enabled to visit the various sea-beaches in the 

 neighbourhood. These at first sight most promising stretches of 

 sand, at intervals along the rocky coast, yielded few shells, and those 

 of no importance. It was, moreover, most tantalising to find that 

 the seabirds had been beforehand and smashed up all the live shells 

 left by the retreating tide. 



To my surprise the wooded hills round Santos were devoid of 

 shells, in spite of the tropical rain that fell at frequent intervals dur- 

 ing my stay. We next visited Paranagua to discharge more cargo, 

 and here, too, I was from a conchological point of view disappointed. 

 The town is situated in a magnificent lagoon, larger than that at Rio, 

 and surrounded by mountains covered with forest, which comes 

 down to the water's edge. A thorough search of the shore for many 

 miles only produced the very plebeian Littorina fiava Brod., which 

 thrives in enormous quantities among the scrub lining the water. 



We then proceeded to Rio Grande do Sul, on the Lago de Patos, 

 an inland sea, one hundred miles in length. The surrounding 

 country being low sandy desert is absolutely destitute of molluscan 

 life, and the lagoon itself only contains an unattractive lot of Lamelli- 

 branchs belonging to the Cyrenidce. 



I made enquiries everywhere as to the localities of the giant 

 Bulimia which European conchologists imagine to infest the entire 

 country of Brazil, and I learnt that they are only found inland at a 

 much greater elevation than the sea level. I had been supplied by 

 Mr. H. B. Preston with specially made sacks for stowing moss, dead 

 leaves, and other debris, which collectors in Britain find so fruitful 

 in small species ; and I made many excursions along the forest paths 

 round Paranagua and into the jungle itself in search of material. 

 The material, however, was not there. Tropical trees and creepers 

 do not shed their leaves at a given season, and only an occasional 

 dead leaf is to be found, and the soil, being either peaty or sandy, is 



