VERTIGO MOULINSIANA : HELICES ABANDONING THEIR SHELLS. 217 



parts of the ditch, and carefully kept separate. From those portions 

 of the ditch where no abnormalities occurred, although the shells 

 were equally abundant and the conditions of life apparently the 

 same, the specimens were all exceptionally fine, and very clean, with 

 no trace whatever cf Epistylis. 



The presence of this Vorticellid on shells of Limntza and Physa, 

 especially in their earlier stages, may also account for those occasional 

 scalarid or other monstrous forms noted as occurring along with the 

 deformed Planorbes, for I noticed plenty of colonies on shells from 

 the infected area, whilst specimens from other parts of the ditch were 

 quite normal, and free from this parasitic growth. It would be 

 interesting if collectors would look out for and note the presence of 

 Vorticellce on shells from ditches where abnormalities, particularly 

 of P. spirorbis, occur. 



Vertigo moulinsiana Dupuy, in Cambridgeshire. — At the annual meeting, 

 on October 22nd, I had the privilege of exhibiting a set of this rare Vertigo, received 

 from my friend Mr. J. R. B. Tomlin, of Llandaff, and collected by him in the early 

 part of September last, at Wicken Fen, near Soham. This discovery possesses a 

 peculiar interest, inasmuch as it proves the correctness of the late Dr. J. Gwyn 

 Jeffreys' surmise that V. moulinsiana would probably be found to exist in the fen 

 districts of our eastern counties, if careful search were made (Brit. Conch. , vol. 1, 

 p. 256). It is also a valuable addition to the limited number of recorded localities 

 for the species in the United Kingdom. Mr. Tomlin informs me that he was 

 searching for Coleoptera in what now remains of this once famous fen, and whilst 

 beating the reed-stems, and shaking bundles of freshly-cut sedges over a news- 

 paper, he found the Vertigo in some quantity. He considers that it would be found 

 abundantly by any assiduous collector, who had time to systematically search 

 amongst the reed-beds and sedges — "sedge "being the fenman's comprehensive 

 term for the luxuriant undergrowth that characterises this fen, and comprises a 

 large variety of tall plants and grasses. The animal seems to be of a sluggish dis- 

 position, living exposed on the tall plants during the summer and autumn, and 

 probably hibernating in hollows of the dead stems during the winter months. The 

 Wicken habitat is very similar in some respects to that in which the mollusc was 

 discovered by Mr. C. O. P. Cambridge, at Morden, Dorset, in 1889 (J. Conch., 

 vol. 6, p. 348, April, 1891). — R. Standen (Read before the Society, Nov. 9th, 

 1898). 



Helices abandoning their Shells.— Referring to the observations on Limntza 

 peregra abandoning its shell (vide supra pp. 112, 164), I have had a somewhat 

 similar experience with certain Helices. My friend, Mr. F. J. Bigger, collected for 

 me a number of shells, during April, 1898, from the walls of a hotel on the Grand 

 Canal, Venice. Many were quite young specimens of Helix pisana Mull., and 

 H. lactea Mull., which I fed all summer on lettuce, upon which they throve and 

 appeared healthy. In October, when the shells were about three-quarters grown, I 

 noticed that one of the animals had crawled out of its shell and was wandering over 

 the lettuce leaves. About a month later I took the shells to the Annual Conver- 

 sazione of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, and during the evening another animal 

 also left its shell. The box in which I kept them was covered with glass, and they 

 were not handled in any way. — R. Welch (Read before the Society, April 12th, 1899) 



