Geographical Distribution of Bulimus. 273^ 



plied : " Only wait till the dews come, and they will be all alive 

 again." Mr. Cuming rejoined : " I suppose you mean when it 

 rains." The man, however, in perfect astonishment inquired 

 what he meant ; though a sexagenarian, he had never heard of 

 such a thing as rain. 



The Bulimi vary in their mode of propagation : fragile species 

 with the lip of the shell simple are mostly viviparous, while those 

 with a reflected lip are oviparous. The arboreal species of the Phi- 

 lippines deposit their eggs in little clusters on the trees, between 

 two leaves which the animal manages to curl up, one upon the 

 other, so as to form a receptacle for their protection ; and so far 

 as Mr. Cuming's observations go, they are all soft, like snakes' 

 eggs, with the single exception of the B. Mindoroensis, in which 

 instance the eggs are calcareous, deposited upon a leaf in parallel 

 rows, each standing perpendicularly on end, attached at the base 

 by a glutinous substance. 



The habits of the Bulimi in the two widely-remote countries 

 explored by Mr. Cuming having been treated of in the foregoing 

 remarks, it only remains to speak of them in other parts. Turn- 

 ing to New Holland, we are unexpectedly surprised to find that 

 the genus is there represented to an extremely limited extent. 

 I am not aware of more than three species having been found in 

 this wide expanse of country, although several fine Helices have 

 been discovered ; and in a region of which the Fauna and Flora 

 exhibit so luxuriant and distinctive a character, the scarcity of a 

 genus of so much importance in the Eastern Isles is remarkable. 

 The same observation applies to New Zealand, from whence, so 

 far as the interior of the islands of that group has been visited, 

 no more than one or two species have been received. In Africa, 

 the Bulimi are almost as great strangers as in the localities just 

 spoken of; throughout the whole extent of land yet explored of 

 this vast continent, scarcely a dozen species have been obtained. 

 The Bulimi are here replaced by Achatin(e. Such a phsenomenon 

 may also be observed in some of the islands of the Pacific ; in 

 the Sandwich Islands the Bulimi are replaced by the genus Acha- 

 tinella, and in the Society Islands their place is occupied by the 

 Partula. In the West Indies the genera Achatina and Glandina 

 seem to prevail. Howsoever abundant is the genus Bulimus in 

 most of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, few species ap- 

 pear to inhabit the great territories of India and China. On the 

 coast of Borneo a beautiful one was recently discovered by Mr. 

 Adams of H.M.S. Samaraug by the accidental falling of a tree 

 in a woody islet situated between Banguey and Balambangan ; 

 but they are of rare occurrence in that locality. In Europe, 

 where nature is exposed to the vicissitudes of a colder chmate, the 

 Bulimi are mostly small, and exhibit no brilliancy of colour ; so 



