32 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. 12, NO. I, JANUARY, 1907. 



have been separated, and that there is no jot of evidence that they 

 are more than varieties or in the last case perhaps a " sport." I 

 have no hesitation in saying that, were the British Islands casually 

 visited and batches of moUusca collected haphazard here and there, 

 our nioUuscan fauna would have its species multiplied almost in- 

 definitely if similar laxity prevailed. 



The last matter I wish to urge is the need for systematic breeding 

 in the case of species doubtfully distinct. The answer to the 

 question — How many British species of Vallonice- are there? — will 

 I think be found in the results of carefully arranged experiment in 

 breeding. If the various forms are bred separately and if successful 

 crossings are secured we shall be far better able to state whether 

 these forms are species or not. 



I have only attempted to outline the main features of a subject 

 full of interest and if I have succeeded in making clearer the 

 intricacies of a difficult matter my object has been fully attained. 



The Prevention of Corrosion. — In reply to Mr. Lucas I must state that 

 the extensive use of corrosive sublimate in surgery as a sterilizer led me to 

 suggest immersion in a solution of this substance as a remedy in preventing 

 corrosion. In the paper of this title I have withdrawn this treatment in favour 

 of the rubbing over of the surface of a shell with linseed oil. If a shell like 

 Ovula ovum be not well washed beforehand then any dirt will show up.— L. St. 

 G. Byne, Bournemouth, 14th October, 1906 {^Read before the Society, November 

 14th, 1906. 



An interesting Association of Species of Land Mollusca. — What I 

 venture to think is a somewhat unusual association of land shells came under my 

 notice recently while collecting near Woodford, Northamptonshire, with my 

 friends, Messrs. C. E. Wright and W. C. Cattell, of Kettering, who drew my 

 attention to it. In the particular spot I refer to, the limestone formation comes 

 down almost to the edge of the river Nene, and on the sloping river bank are 

 to be found flourishing colonies of Helicella virgata and its var. httescens, H. 

 itala, and H. caperata, all forms typical or dry places, living in company with 

 the damp-loving Helkigoiia arbitstorum, of which species, and Helix nemoralis, 

 there are also large colonies on the bank, while on the reeds at its foot is Siiccinea 

 putris. I do not remember having seen any previous record of H. vit-gata or its 

 allies living with H. arbidstoittm. I may add that amongst the H. itala I found 

 two specimens of the scarce var. hyalozonata, a form which INIr. Wright had 

 previously met with there, but only in small numbers. — F. B. Jennings, loth 

 September, 1906 [Read before the Society, November 14th, 1906). 



