126 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. l6, NO. 4, AUGUST, I92O. 



The Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, xvii, Oct. 1919, 

 contain another of Prof. Boycott's admirable oecological papers, entitled "The 

 Freshwater Mollusca of the Parish of Aldenham." The problem which the author 

 is attacking is, in his own words, " Why some snails live in certain sorts of places, 

 and other snails in other kinds of habitats," and in this paper, as well as in " The 

 Habitats of Freshwater Mollusca." (_/ou)-n. of Conch., xv, p. 240) he lays down 

 in masterly fashion the lines on which the problem should be approached, and 

 sums up the complexities which involve it. The need of data is obvious, and the 

 author especially suggests surveys of (i), particular areas ; (2), particular species, 

 'e.g., M. margaritifera, P. glaber, and P. corneiis ; (3), particular kinds of 

 habitats, e.g., canals and mountain lakes. 



In this connexion we may call attention to the splendid series of monographs by 

 F. C. Baker on the " Relation of Mollusks to Fish in Oneida Lake, New York," 

 published by the New York State College of Forestry, at Syracuse University, in 

 1916, and subsequently. These form contributions towards just such a survey as is 

 referred to above, and are copiously illustrated with tabulations and photographs. 

 The most interesting perhaps are the subaqueous photographs, showing invertebrate 

 life on various kinds of bottoms. The habits, associations, and pabulum of the 

 freshwater niollusca are dealt with in the most minute detail. 



Messrs. Caruana Gatto and Despott have published a very welcome Maltese 

 local list, entitled " Materiali per una Malacofauna Marina delle Isole Maltesi." 

 The last one of the sort was issued by Dr. A. A. Caruana in 1867. Gulia and 

 Benoit began one in 1872, but it was never completed. Exact localities are given 

 in every case and relative frequency. 



We must deprecate the continued ascription of specific names to Chemnitz, 

 who has absolutely no status as a binomial author. The extremely small number 

 of Pyi amide llidce is noteworthy. 



"Observations on Living Lamellibranchs of ,New England," by E. S. Morse 

 (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., xxxv, p. 139) includes descriptions of the following 

 British species: — Mytilns edulis L., Modiola modiolus (L. ), Modiolaria discors 

 (L. ), Cyprina isiandica (L.), Astai-te sulcata Fleming, A. crehricostata Fbs., 

 Ttirtonia minuta (F.), Petricola pholadiformis Lam., Solen ensis L. , Mya aren- 

 aria L. , Saxicava rugosa Lam., and ZirfcBa crispata (L. ). Incidentally Prof. 

 Morse remarks : — " In our Margaritatta matgaritifora, at least from Maine, the 

 mantle is fringed with fimbriated papillae, as in Mytilus edulis. I have searched 

 in vain European descriptions of what was always supposed to be the same species, 

 and no reference is made to these digitated papillae lining the mantle. " 



Mr. Hedley has published another invaluable Check-List — that of the Mollusca 

 of New South Wales ( /ourn. and Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales, vol. li. ). 

 Two special features which always commend themselves in Mr. Hedley's work of 

 this kind are the up-to-date character of the nomenclature and the definite elimina- 

 tion of erroneous records. The latter is a piece of spade work invaluable in the 

 interests of geographical distribution, but wearisome in the extreme to the com- 

 pilers of lists. 



