50 JOURNAL OF CONCHOT.OGY, VOL. l6, NO. 2, AUr.UST 30, I919. 



Since writing the above article a very interesting piece of informa- 

 tion has been ^ published by Ken nard and Woodward regarding the 

 discovery of H. obvohita in Britain, questioning the priority of Dr. 

 Lindsay's original discovery. 



In vol. 4, pp. 302-3, of a "Natural History," by Dr. R. Brookes, 

 published in 1768 (London) occurs the following interesting descrip- 

 tion of a shell which they believe refers to H. obvoliiia. 



"The whitish depressed %x\'^\\ with a dentated mouth is about half an 

 inch broad, and its height no more than the third of an inch. It consists 

 of three or four spiral turns, and has a flat clavicle. The mouth is about a 

 quarter of an inch long, and almost as much broad, which makes the figure 

 nearly roundish. It has a pretty broad lip and pearly white, and is slightly 

 dentated on each side. The colour of the whole shell is whitish, without 

 any variation. It is said to be met with in Charlton Forest in Sussex, and 

 is pretty common in Italy." 



If this description refers to H. obvohita, and in some degree it 

 corresponds, then Dr. Lindsay's record is anticipated by more than 

 half-a-century. Unfortunately neither scientific name nor recorder 

 is given. The italics are in the text. 



Spirula peroni Lamarck in North Devon. — Between August i6th and 

 Sept. 5th of this year I collected fifteen of the shells of this Cephalopod on the 

 sands of Croyde Bay and Pulsborough, which lie on either side of Baggy Point, 

 situated four or five miles below Mort Ho ! They had been carried far up the 

 beach, generally to high-water mark, and were as a rule in good condition. A vast 

 number of a species of Velella, a member of the Siphonophora, was thrown up 

 at the same time. These beaches are not generally rich in shells, except for a vast 

 number of Mactra stultortmt Linne in good preservation, often in fact alive. 

 Patches of coal dust, often so rich in small species, usually only yielded a large 

 quantity of broken bivalves, which it was impossible to recognise. I have examined 

 these beaches during August and September, during the present .ind past years, 

 and the only other species found in any numbers were Teredo jjiegotara Hanley in 

 a log, Scala clathrus Linne, Clathmella purpurea Montagu, Activon iornatilis 

 Linne, and Natica catena Da Costa. The rock collecting, too, was poor, probably 

 owing to the fact that most of the depressions in the rocks do not run parallel to 

 the. sea, but allow its full force to rush up them. This year there was a very large 

 number of Lepas anatifera cast up, also many other Crustacea. I am inclined to 

 think that great submarine and anti-submarine activity may have had something 

 to do with this. IMight this not be the case also with Spiruhi and Velella ? — 

 Alan Gardiner {Read before the Society, November 13th, 1918). 



I Proc. Malac. Soc. Lond., xiii., 83. 



