Si II: Vl I: GOSSIP. 





COS!) El • V'll.FRED MARK WEBR, F.I..S. 



i\\ i v Molluscan Fauna 



i 'i 1 1 1 i: idsh ire. \ papei on this subji ct ha 



ivritl by W irs. Arl nui I i» ycotl and Ernes! 

 W. W. Bow II ind '<'•■ it" Woolhope 



Naturalists' Field Club. It is, however, by no means 

 intendi » I ical list, and although il 



fills o' iges, the authors begin with an 



: il- . We have, 

 howei i. i like il as we find it, and may say il 

 that Messrs. Boycott and Bowell have succeeded in 

 their endeavour. They have presented to us some- 

 thing new, and. like all novelties, open to much 

 criticism, bill anhonesi attempl tografl on to the old 

 style oi collecting some work of a modern kind. 

 Alter a glance at the paper it would he no longer 

 possible to call the authors only conchologists or 

 malacologists, lor they are true students of the 



molluscs, considering the small series we boasl of from 

 almost every point ol view. In the paper are given 

 tables of distribution according to fourteen sub-divi- 

 sions of the county, already made out for the flora, as 

 well as for three geological formations. Old Red 

 Sandstone, Silurian and Limestone. Several pages 

 are devoted to methods in which the anatomical side 

 is dealt wiih. indeed the authors say that they " found 

 this one oi i he most interesting branches of the 

 subject." It i- worthy of mention that anatomy isnot 

 lor a moment supposed to be " utilised as a convenit til 

 way of differentiating species." Microscopical re- 

 agents are discussed, and one cannot help quoting 

 the remarks made about mounting shells, as they 

 agree SO precisely with the ideas often expressed by 

 Hi'- presenl writer, on curatorial method.-,. "Any 

 system, however, of keeping shells, that is for the 

 purposes of a private collection, which involves stick- 

 ing them on to cards, etc., cannot be too strongly 

 condemned. A shell once stuck down is practically 

 removed, till it is unstuck again, from playing a very 

 useful part in the study of biology ; it is scarcely more 

 than a subject on which to exercise the visual aesthetic 

 sense." A true remark also is that which says, there- 

 is nosingle me of our species whose habits and anatomy 

 have been at all completely worked out. A novel 

 feature "i the paper is the attention given to measure- 

 ments, whether as to size or to weight. We 

 wonder very much, however, al the " Shell Collectors' 

 Handbool for the Field," by J. W. Williams, being 

 seri !■ considered in this or any scientific con- 

 nection. Most praiseworthy is the attempt to tackle 

 nomenclature, and the giving of synonymy in a 

 number of cases, but this is often treated in a convci- 

 sational way. that leads to very little, and the authors 

 are nm consistent. It is a pity that a committee is 

 not formed to settle the question so far as possible, 

 _ that we have only about a hundred and forty 

 to determine. -Slugs have had little 

 attention paid to them in Herefordshire, nine 

 - only being recorded. Under the heading 

 ol various species, many interesting records of colour 

 variations are given, as well as suggestive remarks 



which well des i little 



points hei. and there which show that keen ol,-. 

 in the field, as well as at hi ■ 



In the presenl hori notice many interesting thi 



havi r, but we must . n to 



the fact that Lymm a "'I /.. auri 



lered ies, undci the name of /.. 



limosa I.. At I is definitely 



the opinion In Id by many of 

 calli ' " ire not yel ;ufl i ii nl ly i i ■! to 



warrant two names; but evidence is still 



upon the point. V single sub-fossil deposil 



bury is alluded !•>. which is interesting, owing to the 



fact that two ipecies ol ' i riot hitherto recorded 



loi il mi., occui there. Wilfred Mark Webb, 2, 



Thi Broadway, Hammersmith, November i(>th, 1899. 



Si ilariform Helix Aspersa. -in Science 

 Go . 1 f {ante, p. 1S11 I saw a figun "I the scalariform 



monstrosity ol Helh a ~>ersa identical in appeal 



with a specimen I presented a fewyears ago to the 

 British Museum. It was found a great many ' 

 since l>\ an acquaintance ol ours, who used to live 

 ai Hen bury, in the Arbutus Walk in Blaise Castle 

 Wood, which extends along a portion of the precipi- 

 tous side of the valley formin rise Castle 

 Gorge. It is the only specimen 1 have seen from 

 this district. -Spetui <• 1 

 //. nbitry, Bristol. 



I .V monstrosity such as the scalariform Helix 

 is not dependent upon locality one would 

 tay, bul is due to some injury, or othei cause which 

 leads to the whorls taking a larger curvature 

 when growth is recommenced. The writer has 

 a specimen of the common snail from Keigate 

 Hill, which he collected long before he took up the 

 systematic study of shells, which though not attaining 

 quite to the remarkable conformation of the shell 

 figured upon p. 1S1, shows this point very well. - 

 //'..]/. W. I 



Vertigo Substriata.— Some time ago I found. 

 but have not hitherto recorded, a number of sped 

 mens of Vertigo substriata Jeff, al Westerham, in 

 Ixeirt. The molluscs in question were in a similar- 

 situation to the one in which f discovered the same 

 species in Essex — among the damp gra-s, in swampy, 

 but slightly rising ground al the edge of a stream. 

 Though common enough in Pleistocene deposits recent 

 VertigOS are somewhat rare, and one would think that 

 more careful collecting would yield more record-. 



Tiik Homing of Limax Flavus. —Mr. Taylor's 



remarks upon the homing of slugs and snails in 

 the last part of his monograph, notice of which 

 will be found on page 242, remind me of the 

 behaviour of a specimen of the large yellow lilac- 

 horned slug Limax Jlavits. It was when I was living 

 in this neighbourhood before, that the characteristic 

 " spoor" v( a large slug was noticed leading from the 

 grating over a drain up the wall to a soap-dish hung 

 on a nail and back again. I do not remember now 

 whether the trail crossed itself: but night after night 

 a new one was made and the cake of soap diminished, 

 until at last, having indulged a little too freely, the 

 slug was somewhat late in returning home, and was 

 • captured before reaching its hiding place. L'pon dis- 

 section the alimentary canal of the animal was found 

 to he full of " primrose" soap, and its characteristic 

 internal shell went to enrich my collection. The food 

 chosen in this case alsi 1 serves to show the omnivorous 

 tendencies of the Limacidae, for which the varied 

 forms of teeth described by Mr. Taylor in his mono- 

 graph well fit the members of this family, — Wilfred 

 Mark Webb, j. The Broadway, Hammersmith 



