SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



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taken in many strange shapes, and the large 

 Cyprina islandica comes up in all stages of growth. 

 Among these roots, as well as in the rock-pools on 

 other parts of the coast, strange crustaceans with 

 fascinating shapes are met with ; indeed, a very 

 fairly representative British collection of crabs can 

 be made round the island. 



Thus the collector of land-shells should not omit, 

 on dry, parched days, to pay a visit to the coast, 

 and perhaps get bitten with the insidious mania 

 for marine shells, which is as enslaving as that for 

 the non-marine. 



Land-Shells. 



It is more especially to the collector of land and 

 freshwater shells that I propose to give a few brief 

 hints as to how he may economize his time at 

 the Isle of Man. It is a good plan in the island 

 to radiate round a headquarters, and then fix on 

 another, so that one's radiations may be within 

 a reasonable walk, for cycles are useless over the 

 hills and field-paths. The best headquarters are 

 Douglas, Port Erin, Peel and Ramsey. 



Excursions from Douglas. 



A profitable day might be well spent here in inves- 

 tigating the streams Dhoo and Glass and the other 

 small tributaries which finally join above the town. 

 In this river, not far above the town, Unto margaritifer 

 was reported to be found, but I never succeeded in 

 finding it, nor have I come across anyone else who 

 has been more fortunate. Balea perversa still exists 

 in Forbes' old locality on walls round Douglas. 

 Helix nemoraiis and H. horteusis are both common 

 in the neighbourhood, as indeed they are in most 

 parts of the island. 



Excursions from Port Erin. 



Between Port Erin and Colby there are, or used to 

 be, some small plantations in which several of the 

 Hyaliniaeand the smaller Helices may be found. On 

 the south side of the bay, a small mountain stream 

 contained some very clean perfect specimens of 

 the albino form of Ancylus fluviatilis. Helix aspersa, 

 and H. nemoraiis are particularly fine all round 

 the town. Limax arborum swarms on wet days 

 all over the stone walls, and on Bradda Head 

 Avion ater var. albolaleralis has been found. As 

 a rule the heather-covered hills yield nothing 

 to the conchologist, though butterflies are plentiful. 

 A pleasant walk over the hill, past the Druids' 

 circle and the quaint little village of Craignish, 

 takes one to the Sound, where at low spring tides 

 many good species of shells may be found in the 

 rock-pools by the Kitterland. At Craignish, I 

 remember coming across an old man who could 

 not speak English, and who, I was informed, had 

 never seen a train, though the railway at Port 

 Erin had been some time in existence. This, how- 



ever, was many years ago, before the railway ran 

 to Ramsey, and before the cry of " Hi ! Kelley ! " 

 was heard in the land. Castletown is within 

 a walk, though it may be more easily reached by 

 train, and along the lower slopes of the cliffs down 

 to the shore Helix acuta and most of its varieties 

 extend for a mile or two. There is a tiny stream 

 running into Fleshwick Bay which used to contain 

 Limnaea peregra within twenty or thirty yards of the 

 sea. Pupa cylindracea and Helix rvpestris swarm 

 over the sea walls on the road near Castletown. 



Excursions from Peel. 



At Peel, a large Hyalinia, seemingly a form 

 intermediate between H. cellaria and H. drapar- 

 naldi, has been found. This should be further 

 searched for and a larger series examined than has 

 been hitherto possible. Peel Castle should be 

 visited on a wet day for slugs and for Helix pulchella. 

 A sinistral and also a subscalariform specimen of 

 H. aspersa were taken near here by Mr. R. Cairns, 

 of Stalybridge. Mr. Cairns informs me that at 

 Whitesand, near Peel, Helix itala is common, the 

 type sparingly, but varieties leucozona, lentiginosa, 

 and the bandless form are common. Here, too, 

 H. acuta is found plentifully. I do not think the 

 coast to the north of Whitesand has been properly 

 explored, but it ought to be fruitful. 



Excursions from Ramsey. 



I have never found much in the way of land- 

 shells on this part of the coast, or indeed on 

 the eastern side of the island at all ; but the 

 long stretch of sand-dunes extending to Point 

 of Ayre ought to yield Helix nemoraiis and H. 

 itala. Many years ago I spent a whole day in 

 January among the pools on the Curragh, and 

 took several freshwater species, among which was 

 Planorbis nautileus var. crista with the most pro- 

 nounced spines that I have ever seen. It would be 

 interesting to work this locality again, as when 

 last I was there a prolonged drought had entirely 

 dried up every drop of water for some miles. 



General Observations. 

 Perhaps enough has been said to indicate the 

 various places which should be searched first. 

 Afterwards the interior of the island might be 

 worked ; but I think comparatively few species of 

 Mollusca are to be found there. It is not well 

 to spoil a collector's pleasure by indicating too 

 minutely what may be expected, but a list of the 

 Manx land and freshwater shells has been published 

 in the " Yn Lioar Manninagh," the organ of the 

 Natural History and Antiquarian Society. Com- 

 plete lists of the marine fauna are published in 

 the Reports of the Liverpool Bay Marine Biological 

 Committee. The climate is usually perfect, and 

 some of our party used to bathe in the sea in 



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