SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



227 



A CONCHOLOGICAL RAMBLE. 

 By F. C. Long. 



,/^\N a beautiful morning in July last, a friend and 

 myself started out on our bicycles for a day's 

 shell-hunting around the neighbourhood of Whalley, 

 in Lancashire. The smoky towns of Burnley and 

 Padiham were soon left behind, and we quickly 

 found ourselves amidst scenes of sylvan beauty and 

 rural peacefulness very delightful and refreshing to 

 dwellers in a busy town. Passing through the 

 village of Read we leave our machines at a road- 

 side cottage, as the rest of our journey can be 

 better done on foot. We soon turn aside to examine 

 a small duckweed-covered pond, fringed around 

 with tall grasses, flags, rushes, and other marsh- 

 loving plants. Here we find numbers of Planorbis 

 albus, Limncea peregra and L. palustris, and in the mud 

 at the bottom, Pisidium pusillum, and a single speci- 

 men of P. fontinale. We skim a quantity of duck- 

 weed from the surface of the water, and, after 

 squeezing as much of the water out of it as we 

 can, we place it in our bag for examination at home, 

 as we know from former experience that it will 

 contain numbers of the little Planorbis nautileus. 



Leaving this pond we soon arrive at the wood 

 known as Lord's Wood. The wood here is skirted 

 by a low moss-grown wall, at the foot of which we 

 find some fine specimens of Zonites glaber, along 

 with Z. nitidulus, Z. punts, Z. alliarius and Z. 

 ccllavius, and on the wall itself are numerous speci- 

 mens of Clausilia rugosa and Pupa umbilicata. Just 

 inside, where the trees are somewhat open, the 

 ground is covered with a perfect tangle of plants. 

 Here are abundance of dogs' mercury (Mercurialis 

 perennis), woundwort (Stachys sylvallca), meadow- 

 sweet (Spiraa ulmaria), with its mass of cream- 

 coloured blossom, here and there a clump of the 

 tall showy flowers of the great harebell {Campanula 

 latifolia), and overhead the great creamy white 

 masses of the elder-blossom . Here, beneath the thick 

 growth of woodruff (Asperula odovata) and other 

 herbage, we find Helix hispida, H. concinna, 

 H. rotundata, very fine specimens of H. rufescens, 

 H. arbustorum, a few specimens of H. nemoralis, 

 some very fine H.fusca, and a fine lot of H. sericea. 

 In addition to the Zonites already mentioned we 

 find Z.fulvus and Z. crystallinus. At the feet of the 

 trees we find Clausilia laminata and Cochlicopa 

 lubrica and tvidens, and one specimen of var. crystal- 

 Una. Among the moss and dead leaves we find 

 Vitrina pellucida, and, after careful search, Vertigo 

 cdentula and Pupa ringens. 



We now leave the wood and cross the road to 

 the bank on the opposite side. Here, the first shell 

 we find is Helix aculeata, a little prickly shell very 

 difficult to distinguish among the dead leaves and 



grass stalks, and on the stones in the wall we find 

 a few II. rupestris and Balia perversa. In some moss 

 on the top of the wall we find that little gem of a 

 shell Carycliium minimum, and the minute H. pygnuza. 

 On the bank we find Bulimus obscurus, along with 

 many other shells already mentioned. The ground 

 is here covered with the fallen corollas of the 

 elder-blossom, and near by is a hawthorn bush 

 covered with the webs of the larvae of the small 

 eggar moth (Eriogaster lanestris). 



From the wood below, which slopes down to the 

 River Calder, comes the plaintive notes of the 

 wood-pigeons. Here we sit for awhile, enjoying 

 the beautiful scene before us. Looking up the 

 valley we see on our left the woods sloping down 

 to the river ; higher up are the numerous gables 

 and chimneys of Moreton Hall, while directly 

 below, but across the river, is the little knoll, 

 crowned with trees, on which, in 1535, John 

 Paslew, last Abbot of Whalley, was hanged for 

 his share in the rising called the "Pilgrimage of 

 Grace." To the right is the wooded hill named 

 "Whalley Nab," with the whitewashed farmhouses 

 nestling snugly on the slope. Looking down the 

 valley we see the ruined Abbey, rich with its 

 covering of ivy, and also the ancient church, with 

 its grey, weather-beaten tower, which has stood 

 the winter storms of over eight centuries. The 

 swallows are skimming about over the river below, 

 and some cattle are standing up to the knees in the 

 water, lazily chewing the cud and swishing off the 

 flies with their long tails. A great drone bee comes 

 dashing into a large bunch of meadow-sweet 

 blossom, scattering a little golden cloud of pollen 

 all around. Taken altogether, the scene is one of 

 the most enjoyable, speaking of peace and quiet 

 such as only the country can offer us. 



We now go down into the village of Whalley, 

 and enter the churchyard. Here, among the nettles 

 we get some specimens of Helix aspersa. As this is 

 the only place we find this species for several miles 

 around, it is very probable that it is not a "native," 

 but has been introduced at some time or other along 

 with plants brought into the churchyard from a 

 distance. From a lane near we get specimens of 

 Helix hortensis, and a little way up this lane we turn 

 into a field to visit a small pond. A water-hen 

 hurriedly flapped across as we approached, and hid 

 itself in the bushes at the opposite side. The pond 

 was full of the arrowhead (Sagittal ia saggitifolta), 

 the American pond-weed (Anacharis alsinastrum), 

 and other aquatic plants. From the reeds at the 

 sides we got Succinea elegans and S. putris, and from 

 the pond itself, Limncea peregra, Sphosrium corneum, 



