G OD WIN- AUSTEN : DISPERSAL OP LAND SHELLS. 147 



first examination they appeared to have a very decided European look, 

 and on dissection a comparison with the admirable figures and 

 descriptions in Mr. John W. Taylor's " Monograph of the Land and 

 Freshwater Mollusca of the British Isles," which is quite an 

 indispensable work, showed them to be without doubt Agriolimax 

 agrestis. Very shortly after this I received from Dr. N. Annandale, 

 Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, some material he 

 had collected in the N.W. Himalaya on a trip in the hills near 

 Simla. Again an undoubted European slug turned up in Agriolwiax 

 maximus, var. mitcolor, corresponding with fig. 4, pi. vi of the above 

 monograph. The examination of the anatomy was equally satisfactory. 



The discovery of this species is most interesting, because it was found 

 on the Tibet road, some 30 miles beyond Simla. In that station, where 

 its numerous residents must frequently be receiving plants and roots, 

 such as dahlias, from England, the introduction of our common slugs 

 is to be expected. Dr. Annandale mentioned to me that close by where 

 he took this Agriolimax, crawling over the rocks by the roadside, a fruit 

 orchard had lately been established. If these young trees had been 

 brought from Simla there is a possible means of further extension ; 

 once established, there are many ways in which this slug might be 

 carried about, a very possible one being upon the loads carried on the 

 backs of coolies, who frequently put down their loads on the rocks by 

 the roadside when resting and cooking their meals. 



When I was in Calcutta in 1876-7 an African species of Achatina 

 had spread all over the gardens in Chowringhi and the suburbs to 

 Howra on the other side of the River Hoogly and to Barrackpur, about 

 15 miles north. It had been introduced originally into Calcutta by 

 Mr. Benson some 20 years before, after his arrival from the Cape and 

 the Mauritius. Among some shells in spirit sent me last year by 

 Dr. Annandale, collected at Rajmahal, which is some 170 miles from 

 Calcutta on the line of railway, were three very young specimens of 

 this Achatina. In this case their transport has probably been on the 

 railway trucks, either by crawling on to them or their being loaded 

 up with country produce. Spread of land shells in this way would be 

 very rapid. 



