J. Starkie Gardner — Teredo in the Eocene. 165 



at all likely that the piece in question could have been accidentally 

 brought inland, after being perforated in the sea by Teredo. It sinks 

 in water, is rather brittle, much harder and far more compact than 

 either mahogany or teak, and is full of some mineral matter that 

 quickly deadens the edge of any tool. It does not grow on the coast, 

 nor within 50 miles of it on the Zambesi. Dr. Kirk adds that in 

 the bottom planks of the pinnace belonging to the expedition, the 

 ship-worm was also found, with its soft parts attached to the finely 

 sculptured valves. The boat was so riddled that the quartermaster 

 pushed a paint brush through her double planks. This was at Tete, 

 250 miles from the sea, after the pinnace had remained there six 

 months at anchor. I regret not having space to give in extenso Dr. 

 Kirk's interesting account of all the circumstances connected with 

 this discovery. There is not the slightest doubt that the Teredo 

 observed by Jiim inhabits water which is at all times perfectly sioeet and 

 fresh." 



With regard to its occurrence in fresh water in India, a letter 

 from a member of the Survey appeared in " Nature " of April 19th, 

 1877 : " That the delta of the Irawadi, a tangled maze of creeks, the 

 waters of which are brackish or salt for about half the year, and 

 slightly so, and even potable during the other months. The large 

 canoes which traverse these creeks are much infested by ship-worm, 

 and are fired to get rid of them. I cannot recall any instances of 

 bored wood well above the tide-way, but wherever the water is 

 occasionally brackish, thus far the worms seem capable of settling. 

 Perceval Wright has described Nausitoria Dunlopei from the rivers of 

 Eastern Bengal as Novaculina gangetica. The two Burmese species 

 of Scaphula are both estuary forms, whereas the type of the genus 

 in the Ganges is found a thousand miles from the sea." 



Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.E.S., in reply to my question, almost dis- 

 poses of the contention that Teredo actually becomes a bona-fide fresh- 

 water mollusc, so far as India is concerned. He writes: "I know 

 nothing of any occurrence of Teredo in Indian freshwater, and as I 

 for many years paid a good deal of attention to Indian freshwater 

 shells, I should be much surprised if Teredo were really found in 

 fresh water there. The genus, however, abounds in the salt and 

 brackish water of estuaries ; all dead wood and even dead branches 

 of living trees being riddled with borings of several different forms. 

 I have seen them abundantly in the deltas of the Ganges and 

 Irawadi rivers. The estuarine molluscan fauna is very rich and 

 peculiar in India. At times of flood the quantity of water pouring 

 down the rivers is so great that estuaries become temporarily fresh, 

 and in this case estuarine forms may be found living in what is for 

 the time freshwater." 



There is still, however, considerable doubt as to the limits to 

 which the ship-worm penetrates in Australian rivers, and naturalists 

 with whom I have conversed seemed under the impression that it 

 might be met with above rapids, and altogether out of reach of even 

 an occasional mixture of brackish water. The only further infor- 

 mation I have, is contained in a letter to "Nature," May 3rd, 1S77, 



