238 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. 16, NO. 7, SEPTEMBER, I92I. 



Referring lo Mr. Beeston's paper on Llandudno Mollusca (/onrn. o/ Conch., 

 vol. xvi, p. 143), Mr. VV. H. Davies writes as follows : — " I should like lo report 

 that in September, 1919, and in July, 1920, I found Pomatias elegans (Miill.) in the 

 following localities — lane leading up hillside from Happy Valley, abundant ; 

 Invalids' Walk, rare ; under stones in little i)atches of Ground Ivy on east side of 

 Great Orme, abundant." The species used to be so common at various spots on 

 the Great Orme years ago that one was loth to think that it had really died out, 

 as suggested by Mr. Beeston, and it is satisfactory to hear that it is locally as 

 common as ever. 



Mr. C. P. Hurst has a further paper on Wiltshire Mollusca in the Wiltshire 

 Archcwlogical and Natural History Magazine, vol. xli., p. 137, dealing with his 

 recent finds in the Marlborough district, whereby is denoted the country within a 

 ten mile radius of that town. Interesting notes are given on local colour variation, 

 and on tree-climbing by snails. 



Prof. E. S. Morse has just published another of his admirable series of notes on 

 live molluscs, under the title of " Observations on Living Gasteropods of New 

 England" (Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass.). The nine accompanying plates 

 include figures of the following (the names are as given by Prof. Morse) : — Entalis 

 striolata, Aciiuca testndinalis, Skenea planorbis, A'issoa riiinuta (of Totten), Lacuna 

 vincta and neritoidea, Velutina hcvigata, Lamellaria perspictia, BiucimDii un- 

 daliini, Fusus islandicus, Trichotropis borealis. Alexia viyosotis, Melampus 

 hidentatiis, Cemoria noachina, Margarita heliciiia, and Crepidnla fornicata. As 

 comparison is frequently made with English forms, either identical or allied, these 

 observations are of particular interest to our own malacologists. Jeffreys' figure of 

 the animal of Carychiuni miniiiiuni is considered to be "entirely wrong," on the 

 analogy of the American C. exiguum. 



Among recent publications we welcome " Les Variations et leur Heredite chez 

 les Mollusques," by Paul Pelseneer, an Extract from his INIemoires (Science Class) 

 of the Royal Academy of Belgium, forming vol. v of the second series, and con- 

 taining 826 pages, large 8vo. This massive and laborious work brings together 

 the results of past observations on the mollusca, and adds the fruits of the author's 

 personal investigations, with many original illustrations ; 983 authors are quoted 

 or referred to, and there are 3,040 foot-page notes. To the work is prefixed a 

 touching dedication: "to the memory of my compatriots, victims of German 

 aggression, 1914-1918." M. Pelseneer deals with (i) Variability in the mollusca, 

 including variations in {a) the various organs in the adult (1^) development ; (2) 

 Classification of variations ; (3) Relative variability of organs, individuals, and 

 species; (4) Causes of variations ; (5) Heredity of variations ; (6) Unity of Varia- 

 tions ; (7) The most important variations in evolution. Each thesis, after 

 discussion and illustration, is followed up by a resume, in which the main results 

 are summed up in a convenient form. 



By this monumental piece of work the author has earned the lasting gratitude 

 of all scientific men, by bringing together and classifying a vast number of facts 

 bearing on a most important subject. How far his own conclusions will stand the 

 test of time cannot be decided at present. That misprints are rather frequent 

 may be due to the fact, mentioned by the author, that the composition of the work 



